For long, Tamil Nadu police has prided itself on being as good as Scotland Yard when it comes to solving puzzling, mysterious crimes. But for those who can’t or won’t approach the police, it’s private detectives that they turn to for help in making discreet inquiries, at times with help from the police.
In recent times, there has been a surge in the number of people, be it parents, boyfriends, wives or victims of fraud, knocking on the doors of detective agencies.
Take, for instance, Anup, 30, who recently hired a detective to do a background check on the girl he was getting engaged to. “What she mentioned in her matrimonial profile was very different from what was on her Facebook account. I was even more surprised when I found out that she was chatting on dating apps even after I met her. I wanted to be sure about the girl as it was an arranged marriage,” he says.
To cater to demands of people like him, there has been an increase in the number of detective agencies in Tamil Nadu over the past few years. Though there is no concrete study or data on the detective industry, ballpark estimates show that there are over 350 agencies spread across the State, many of them operated by ex-servicemen and former police officers.
Detectives are being hired for pre- and post-matrimonial checks, to spy on spouses, for fingerprint analysis and employment verification, among a host of reasons.
“Earlier people were reluctant to visit a detective. They were also very secretive about what they wanted. But now I get clients as young as 19 and 20,” says A.M. Malathi, director, Malathi Women Detective Agency.
When Ms. Malathi started her journey over a decade ago, she mainly carried out background checks for marriages and jobs. “With divorce rate increasing, I’m now getting a lot of post-marriage verification inquiries. People want evidence that can be produced to defend themselves in court,” she says.
Sitting in her small office in Triplicane, Ms. Malathi is busy handling calls as she speaks. One of the callers, a girl, requests her to get call details of her boyfriend but Ms. Malathi politely tells her it is not possible. “We don’t take up all the cases that come to us. We need to filter. We also make it clear to people what we cannot do. For instance, no detective can tap calls. It’s illegal,” she says. “People watch movies and assume that we can do anything,” she adds.
Not a simple job
“Being a detective is not as easy as one thinks. One needs patience, interest and presence of mind to do the job,” says Sheik Ayub Khan, director, Team Force Detective Agency. He has been in the business for over a decade.
Increasingly parents are hiring detectives to monitor their children, he says, citing a case that he handled recently. “A parent, who was living abroad, was curious about why his daughter did not use money that was deposited in her account for over four months. We found out that she had a boyfriend who was giving her money. We then passed on the information to the parent.”
“Even political parties are hiring detectives these days. During the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls and Tamil Nadu Assembly byelections, detectives were used to gather information pertaining to certain candidates,” he says.
Origins & growth
K. Ragothaman, advisor, Association of Private Detectives and Investigators of India, says detectives were first spotted in the State in the 1970s.
In 1975, someone stole the design of a diesel pump from a big automobile company. Soon a duplicate product entered the market. The company’s name was affected because of the spurious product. Back then, such duplication was possible only in Coimbatore and Ludhiana. A few policemen helped a team of private detectives crack the case, he recalls, tracing the beginnings of the industry.
“In the 80s, when women started marrying outside their communities, there were marital dispute cases and in the 90s when multi-national firms entered the market, there was a demand for background verification of employees as well as directors,” says Mr. Ragothaman, tracing the industry’s growth.
Currently, social media has begun playing a major role in peoples’ lives. Even marriages happen through acquaintances made through social networks. Also, divorce rates have gone up manifold. People, therefore, have started seeking the help of detectives more, says Mr. Ragothaman, who was an investigating officer in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Banks also rely on detectives as non- performing assets (NPAs) are a concern. “Banks want asset-tracing officers and rope in detectives to find out the details. There will be a huge demand for detectives going forward,” he says.
Of course, the services come with a cost. Established detectives charge between Rs.10,000 to over Rs.1 lakh per case for a matrimonial verification. Those involved in corporate espionage get a few lakhs depending on the assignment.
“There has been a 60% increase in searches for detectives,” says Satya Prabhakar, CEO and founder, Sulekha. Nearly 20,000 consumers from Tamil Nadu visit the site every year looking for detective agencies, he adds.
Freelancers
A freelancer gets anywhere between Rs.500-Rs.1,000 a day, depending on the distance he has to travel. While some charge fees on a case basis, others charge on an hourly basis. The rate cards vary according to various parameters, including the nature of the case, time taken, number of hours required, manpower involved, travel expenses, etc.
Each detective agency has around four employees and they also give assignments to college students who are pursuing criminology and other related courses.
Mani, an engineer-turned-detective, says that two years back he was freelancing for a detective who did not know how to handle issues relating to social media. “Now I have started my own agency, specializing in social media,” he says. Social media may be a cause of concern for many but it also helps detectives gather details fast. “Today, one can get tonnes of data and information from social media. There was a case we cracked by pulling out details of places where the person, whom we were following, tagged and checked in,” Mr. Mani says.
Challenges
It is still a predominantly city-based industry. Of the 350-odd detective agencies, nearly 100 have headquarters in Chennai with operations in Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Madurai.
Currently, there are no laws to regulate private detective agencies in India. The Private Detective Regulation Bill 2007 is pending in Parliament.
A detective who has been in the industry for over two decades points out that there are too many unqualified people entering the business. “For many newcomers, the understanding of spying comes only from cinema. They don’t follow licensing norms. They are not trained and use illegal methods to collect evidence. Since no one monitors detectives, there is no regulation,” he says.
Senior police officers are also of the opinion that the new age detectives lack skill and training. “At times, they disrupt investigations and many a time their reporting is not accurate. But we do refer certain petty cases [that we cannot handle] to detectives who we feel are reputed and established,” says a senior police officer.
“Here, the private detectives don’t follow any guidelines or rules. Also, many get into the field without any knowledge or training. Some of them just set up a small office and call themselves detectives,” says a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named.
Published - June 01, 2019 11:16 pm IST
