Private detective agencies have sprung up all over India. They are involved in solving all sorts of personal, corporate, and criminal cases. They are also helping political parties and individual candidates devise winning strategies during elections.
If you think Sherlock Holmes exists only in fiction, and detectives emerge victorious with flying colors only in films, it is time to do a quick rethink.
Private detective agencies do exist in real life as well, and they are helping their clients unravel mysteries of all sorts. More than 500 such agencies are operating in India at present, and these are based not only in bigger cities, but also in smaller towns. While the job of detectives is full of challenges, it is also quite paying. They charge different sums for providing different kinds of services, ranging from Rs 5,000 to several lakh, and one may come across agencies solving cases for poor clients almost free of cost as well. How soon a detective agency is able to make its mark and start getting referrals depends a lot on how much it is able to satisfy its initial clients. There is no definite formula; nor are any special qualifications required to serve as investigators in detective agencies. What is required is intelligence and a curious bent of mind. Networking, however, holds the key to success in almost all cases any detective agency takes up.
| Types of Cases |
| 1 Pre-matrimonial and post-matrimonial cases |
| 2 Missing persons |
| 3 Surveillance |
| 4 Antecedent verification |
| 5 Creditworthiness of individuals and companies |
| 6 Industrial espionage |
| 7 Infringement of trademark and copyright |
| 8 Investigating frauds |
| 9 Criminal cases: Murder, extortion, blackmail, threat, etc. |
| 10 Devising winning strategies for political parties and individuals during elections |
| 11 Fingerprint and handwriting verification |
| 12 Due diligence and risk analysis |
Types of cases and modus operandi
Detective agencies in India usually get two different kinds of cases – personal or corporate – though some agencies do take up criminal cases as well. Personal cases are far more than other types, but certain agencies having better contacts in the corporate field and get more corporate cases. Taralika Lahiri of National Detectives & Corporate Consultants, for instance, gets more corporate cases, but Ashish Mathur of Delhi-based Trident Sleuths and V. Kuluthunga Cholan of Detective International get more personal cases. Cholan gets criminal cases on a regular basis, and sometimes the police also seek his help. Mathur, on the other hand, does not take up criminal cases. Personal cases are mostly related to matrimonial issues, but may also involve finding missing persons.
Corporate cases are of different kinds, pertaining mostly to verification of antecedents of employees. However, these days corporate sector clients are hiring agencies to do asset assessment or verification of companies they may look at as possible targets or plan to enter into some sort of agreement with, as Lahiri reveals. Due diligence and creditworthiness of an individual or a company, industrial espionage, checking out infringement of trademark and copyright, and investigating frauds and cheating cases are some other issues over which the corporate sector hires detectives. Lahiri handles a lot of cases where corporate clients want to get a pulse of the counterfeits in the market and get hold of those involved in producing these. Corporate cases, thus, require not only surveillance, but also services of experts from law, accounts, and other fields.
Besides the usual personal, criminal, and corporate cases, some agencies like Cholan’s Detective International also help political parties or individual candidates make ‘winning’ strategies for the elections. They are hired by political parties to give a fair assessment of expected results. Based on these assessments, Cholan says, agencies can help devise strategies that can turn the tables on the opposition. He adds, “I did make correct assessment of seats for Jayalalithaa in the 2004 elections.”
| Private Security Agencies vs Private Detectives |
| An overlap is often seen in the functioning of private security agencies and private detectives. Many members of the APDI are also the members of the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI). There is an overlap, yet there is a difference between the two. Private security agencies have often an investigation division within themselves, and this is why they take up cases similar to detective agencies. Detective agencies, on the other hand, have no security division, and they limit themselves to cases pertaining to investigations and surveillance alone. But the two associations work in tandem with each other. |
Most of the personal cases involve surveillance and tracing particular individuals. This makes it mandatory for the agencies to equip their employees with hi-tech gadgets, though these are probably not as sophisticated as those used by the heroes of reel life. However, an investigator still needs different kinds of cameras and recorders to gather evidences in personal and corporate cases. These cameras, which can be fitted in pens or wristwatches, cost anything between Rs 20,000 to a lakh, or even more, Mathur reveals. The price of recorders used by detective agencies vary depending on how tiny they are and what their duration of recording is. It can cost anything between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000. Debugging equipment are also used by these agencies to make sure someone is not spying on their clients. However, these are not sufficient to meet the demands of the corporate clients.
Detective agencies have solid networking among themselves. Cases of spying on each other does not exist any more. “This might have been the case more than seven or eight years ago. But now there is a plenty of work in the field. There is no need to spy on each other. We, in fact, assist each other quite a lot,” Lahiri says, something Cholan also confirms.
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| You can start with whatever money you have. Rs10 lakh should be enough, or even Rs 1 crore can prove too little. --V. Kuluthunga Cholan |
Most agencies, wherever they are based, are prepared to take up cases anywhere in India. For instance, if a case originating in Delhi requires investigation in Cochin or Ludhiana or Vijaywada, the responsibility of investigation is passed on to an agency based in these cities. This process helps agencies create work for each other. Some detective agencies, as both Cholan and Lahiri say, do take up overseas cases in countries like Canada, the US, the UK, and Japan. They have links with agencies based overseas, and they network in the same manner as they do in cases in India.
Lahiri says, “My agency gets works from US-based people for investigations in the US itself. We do accomplish these cases through our counterparts based in the US. We provide them similar services in India whenever they need it.”
How to start
Opening a detective agency does not require a huge investment, nor is there any special legal provision for it. What it requires is an office space, a few employees, technical gadgets in the form of cameras and recorders, a website, and good promotion of the website along with some print advertisement. Office space, Lahiri says, is preferable in a commercial are, though a cheaper space is good enough to begin with. She says a capital of Rs10 lakh should be enough to open a detective agency. Cholan agrees. He says, “You should start with whatever money you have. Rs10 lakh should be enough, or even Rs1 crore can prove too little.”
An agency gets assignments if the main person behind it has prior experience and proper contacts in the field. “Networking is the key to having more business,’ Lahiri says.
If an agency is new and the person behind it is also fresh, it normally takes at least six strenuous months to start getting assignments. It is important to accomplish assignments to the satisfaction of clients, as agencies get a lot of work through referrals. However, if contacts are right, one can start even alone, as Lahiri did in 1994, and Cholan in 1980. Lahiri, nevertheless, recommends five to six employees on the payroll to begin with. Salaries start anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, depending on experience. It can go up to Rs 25,000 to 30,000 for senior employees.
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