New Delhi: Scroll through Instagram long enough and you might stumble upon a reel where a teenager flashes a pistol, tags a gangster’s name and throws in a few emojis for flair. In a gritty corner of the virtual world where hashtags glorify gang lords and reels flaunt firearms, Delhi Police is fighting back — with smartphones, algorithms and a grasp of social media behaviour.
Every day, for two hours straight, police officers in the Outer North district are on Instagram, but they aren’t scrolling for fun, only training their Instagram algorithms to become crime-hunting machines. Every scroll is surveillance, every post, a potential lead.
“While most people use Instagram to watch reels or check updates, we intentionally consume content from specific types of accounts,” a police officer told TOI. “It’s like training the app to think we’re interested in gang activity. It works the same way as how one food video can flood your feed with more of the same. We use that same mechanism to identify individuals involved in gun-related content.”
This digital sleuthing begins by targeting common identifiers, such as usernames containing “302” — a reference to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code prescribing punishment for murder. “It’s not just a number, it’s a signal. Those who flaunt 302 in their handles imply they’ve committed or are associated with serious crimes,” revealed Nidhin Valsan, DCP (Outer North).
Hashtags are also clear giveaways. Just as #food or #fashion organise content around themes related to food or fashion, those like #TilluGang, #HimanshuBhau, #LawrenceBishnoi and #Bawaniya link users to infamous gangs.
When an account is identified, the rabbit hole deepens. Officers examine the user’s followers, followings, likes and tagged locations. From there, a network begins to unfold, revealing other individuals posting similar content or showing signs of aspiring gang affiliation or individuals in possession of firearms. After identifying a suspect user, the cops track the people the individual follows and who follows them. They repeat this process, continually uncovering more individuals and networks involved in similar activities.
“It’s not just wanting to flash weapons, the youngsters want influence, street cred and followers,” a police officer revealed. “They idolise gangsters and try to replicate their style and swagger online.” Even bio lines give them away. Phrases like ‘Tillu Bhai Zindabad’ or ‘Gogi Bhai Forever’ are not random fan slogans. They are virtual handshakes signalling loyalty or aspiration.
As the algorithm unearths more targeted content, patterns begin to emerge. The officers then begin identifying physical locations linked to suspect activities. “Common locations in the Outer North police district include highways, a stadium in Bawana and certain parks in Narela,” a senior cop said. Another added, “Similar locations have been identified also in Nangloi, Ranhola and some other places.”
These hubs have been put under surveillance, even crackdowns on occasion. “Once we discover the locations, we connect the dots with inputs from field sources. Then we conduct checks and invoke provisions of the Arms Act to book suspects,” one officer shared.
Technical intelligence has proved critical in the campaign. Mobile phones seized during raids often unlock entire ecosystems — WhatsApp groups discussing arms deals, new social media handles and videos yet to be posted. Police say this digital evidence has helped them pre-empt crimes and stop potential criminals in their tracks. “We’ve recovered everything from country-made pistols to button-actuated knives and imported firearms by studying social media posts,” claimed another officer.
Undercover cops have even created fake gang-affiliated profiles to lure suspects. Surprisingly, the officers often don’t even need to reach out to them — the susceptible themselves message first, eager to be associated with the gangs. An officer smiled, “People DM us themselves asking us how to join or offering to show what weapons they’ve got.”
Sachin Sharma, DCP (Outer), said that police are now exploring artificial intelligence to scale up this campaign. “AI can be leveraged to detect firearm imagery automatically, allowing us to act faster and on a much wider scale,” he said.
Brandishing firearms, driving rashly and acts like these attract extremely high levels of engagement and win likes, followers and attention on social media. But once those engaged in these are identified, police teams move swiftly. “In addition to seizing illegal weapons and making arrests, we also write to social media platforms requesting the deactivation of the identified accounts,” Sharma said. “This is done to curb the glorification of gun culture online so that these individuals cannot use their platform to influence others or promote gang affiliations.”