Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will conduct a drive against detective agencies selling call detail records (CDR). The announcement on Tuesday came after members of the Council alleged that there is a racket of mimicry artists and detective agencies, who modulate voices of prominent politicians for blackmailing them. MLC Ananth Gadgil even brought fake recordings of politicians to the House, which triggered a panic among members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had in 2010 opposed the alleged misuse of phone tapping powers by the Congress-NCP government, claiming intercepting calls of political adversaries was becoming a routine. The then government in 2015 rejected a request by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau to tap phones of ministers and bureaucrats, citing how powers rest only with the Central agencies and not the State.
A Bill to regulate detective agencies and illegal tapping of phones is pending in Parliament. On Tuesday, Home Minister Ranjit Patil said the government has forwarded its suggestions for changes to the draft of the Bill.
Till the Bill is passed, a team of senior police officers will crack down on illegal tapping and sale of call records. Additionally, Superintendents of Police (SPs) will be made as ‘custodian’ of call records.
Mr. Patil said while tapping is a crime under Section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act, the government will now hold the SPs responsible if the records are leaked. Action will also be taken against agencies advertising in newspapers for sale or tapping of phones.
“We, who are in public life, fear our CDR will be mined as well. What is the government doing in this regard?” asked NCP member Hemant Takle.
“There are chances politicians could be blackmailed by such a racket. The government must explain what it is doing to regulate detective agencies. What legal provision it has to stop the illegal mining of call records?” asked Mr. Gadgil.
