Herein, we report the synthesis of magnetic cobalt ferrite (CFO) nanoparticles, to study its application for the development of latent fingerprints using rapid and cost-effective combustion method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used for the structural characterization, which confirmed the pure phase of synthesized nanoparticles. The CFO nanoparticles were used to develop latent fingerprints over a non-porous surface. The developed fingerprints were observed under a stereomicroscope and a large number of pores could be identified and differentiated as open or closed pores, and the average pore size has been calculated. All the obtained results were compared to the results obtained using commercial black magnetic latent fingerprint powder, which established the superiority of synthesized CFO nanoparticles. Current study may pave the path for the development of a potential black magnetic fingerprint powder, which can effectively reveal the fine features of latent fingerprints after development.