Sleuths busy chasing cupid’s arrow

With parents hiring private detectives to keep a watch on their children this Valentine’s Day, it’s not only the cupid’s arrow that will follow the lovebirds around.

Rajesh Pandey, proprietor, Corporate Intelligence Service, told DNA that most of the students, who celebrate Valentine’s Day, are students but some married couples also have approached the firm to keep a tab on their spouses.

“Valentine’s Day is a happening day among students and parents are a worried lot due to this. They usually approach us five days before the Valentine’s Day. Since Pune has many students from outside the city, most of the cases are from parents of such kids,” he said.

About the process that a detective follows to collect evidence, he said, “The first day our team studies the person. Next day we accordingly engage an undercover agent and they report to us the whereabouts of the person through SMS. On the following day, we arrange for video clippings and inform the parents. If parents need more information, they hire us again to get the details about the person their child meets,” he said.

Gautam Giri, general manager, Sharp Detectives, said the trend of hiring detectives to watch the movements of spouses is also picking up in the city.

“Valentine’s Day and New Year is a perfect time to catch a cheating spouse. We get cases not only of the younger generation but most of the cases are in the age group of 35 plus. As it is not a national holiday, working people who are cheating on their spouses tend to take a holiday and spend it with their lovers,” he said.

Giri said it is illegal to video-record inside a room as it accounts to breach of privacy under the law. So our method of working is to catch the subject red-handed and inform the respective spouse.
Mayur Kinkar of Spy Intelligence Services, said, “Most of the cases that come to us are from out-station parents. They approach us to keep an eye on their children who are studying in Pune. Most of the students are pursuing medical and engineering courses,” he said.