Exclusive | Amit Shah orders crackdown: MHA to act against lesser-known messaging apps like Zangi, BiP over terror links

Shah is learnt to have issued the directions at the two-day ‘National Security Strategies Conference-2025’ organised by the Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi in late July. “After constituting a team of experts, CIS is coordinating with central agencies and asking them about such mobile apps, which are being used by terror elements for smooth communication,” a source said.

The instructions follow central agencies’ findings during the probe into the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. Investigators found that many local overground workers in Jammu and Kashmir were relying on such apps, a source said.

Citing the case of gangster-turned-terrorist Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia, arrested by the FBI in April in the US, an NIA official said the accused often used encrypted apps to evade law enforcement. “In multiple cases, the NIA has observed foreign-based accused adopting innovative modus operandi. This includes movement of funds and arms in ways that conceal the source and destination. They and their associates used secure means of communication — Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Zangi and BiP apps — to stay in touch and evade detection,” the official said.

In a chargesheet in the 2024 grenade attack on the house of a retired Punjab Police officer in Chandigarh, the NIA said accused Rohan Masih disclosed before independent witnesses that he connected with Happy Passia through Instagram and later communicated with him on Zangi Messenger, BiP Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat, all of which are encrypted and have servers outside India.

At the meeting, Shah is also learnt to have asked CIS to work with the Intelligence Bureau to form a multi-agency platform on the lines of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), IB’s counter-terrorism grid. “MHA should form a multi-agency platform, including representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, DRDO, defence and academic institutions, for structured discussions to identify challenges posed by encrypted apps and propose technical as well as legal solutions,” the official said.

Separately, Shah is learnt to have asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation and MHA’s Internal Security Division to review action against helicopter operators involved in accidents, particularly where standard operating procedures were flouted. “A separate mechanism should be devised for monitoring such incidents and norms for operating helicopters should be made more stringent to avert lapses,” the official said.