Srinagar, July 6 -- By Samiya Keen and Shahid Shafi

The call reached a police station in Srinagar shortly after noon. A man had shared a one-time password with someone claiming to represent his bank. His savings disappeared within minutes.

Investigators gathered around computer screens instead of heading to a crime scene. They traced bank transfers, anonymous phone numbers and digital footprints that faded almost as quickly as they appeared.

A mobile phone had become both the scene of the crime and the most valuable piece of evidence.

Cases like this have become routine in Kashmir, where police say the internet has transformed both the nature of crime and the work needed to solve it.

That shift forms the central finding of a month-lo...