Messiah for the missing: Cyber expert reunites families via digital footprint

When a Class IX student went missing from a Jammu school, his family explored all avenues in a desperate attempt to trace him, but to no avail. Two months later, they approached Gurcharan Singh, a cybersecurity expert in Chandigarh, and within a short span, the boy was back with the family.

Everything is traceable online

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Every click and every search creates a trace. The digital footprint on the ‘cloud’ is vital. In today’s connected world, we have the tools — if we know where to look.

Gurcharan Singh, Cybersecurity Expert, Central detective training institute, Chandigarh

A member of cybersecurity faculty at the Central Detective Training Institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Gurcharan trains police officials in investigating online frauds. But his expertise lies in finding missing persons, and he does it out of passion.

In 2008, Gurcharan stumbled upon his first case — a missing girl from Jhajjar — and since then has traced hundreds of such individuals, including children.

A messiah for missing persons, Gurcharan follows the digital footprint of his subjects to track them down. He has mastered the art of navigating through the murky waters of the digital landscape, using social media, online transactions, CCTVs, smart TVs and even GPS data as tools to zero in on the subjects.

Sharing his experiences in a video interview with The Tribune, Gurcharan, who hails from Yamunanagar in Haryana, reveals how the Facebook account led him to the Jammu boy.

“To open a new account on the social media, one needs to be 18, have a phone and an email ID, where the OTP is sent for verification. The boy lied about his age and created the account using his mother’s phone. The family was kept in the dark. Once I found the account, I traced the last access. He had used the broadband connection of a popular dhaba in the heart of Amritsar. The boy, who was sent to a top school, was found working as a waiter there,” he shares.

The Jhajjar girl case, which was his first, turned out to be that of elopement. “Through the digital footprint, I could pinpoint her live location in a moving train. The police found her at the next railway station.”

He recalls another case involving a prominent Gujarat doctor who had been missing for three months. “He was found in a meditation centre in Himachal. The digital footprint can’t be erased,” he asserts.

“Police from various states approach us. I have trained many cops who are doing a great job, but due to the pressure of probing other crimes, their priorities shift,” he says.

“Families often approach self-styled godmen for help, but the scientific way of finding someone is through their digital footprint,” he asserts.

“Every click and every search creates a trace. You can access the CCTV and even smart TV for leads,” he says.

Gurcharan doesn’t get paid for all the hard work, but the gratification, he says, is priceless. “I used to trace cyber frauds. And when I achieved some success, I thought of helping families in despair. Seeing them reunite with their loved ones is what drives me. That’s why I do this. To see that joy, that relief — it makes it all worthwhile,” he adds.