True Detectives

Rajani Pandit, 45, has a lot in common with Bilkis Ahmed. Only she isn't aware of it, because tracking her counterparts in detective fiction is not quite her thing.

Bilkis Ahmed's more popular sobriquet Bobby Jasoos is also the name of the Bollywood caper, which was released in theatres last week. Bobby, played with much aplomb by Vidya Balan, is a plucky detective determined to challenge the unspoken rules of the society and her chosen profession. Like Bobby, Pandit faced significant opposition from her father when she decided to become a private investigator. She also had no prior experience with a detective agency before setting out to become India's first female sleuth. But unlike Bobby, Pandit is unfamiliar with detective fiction. Karamchand, Byomkesh Bakshi, and Lalli are alien to her — which means Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are long shots. "I'm a detective myself. I don't need to read about them," she laughs.

From the tepidly-received Samrat & Co. to Bobby Jasoos and the upcoming Jagga Jasoos and Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, detectives are having a field day in Hindi movies.

But Pandit — amongst the growing breed of sleuths looking into familial discord, corporate espionage and the occasional 'thrilling case' — isn't holding her breath just yet. "From what I know, people get us wrong," she says.
In her career spanning 25 years, this Mumbai-based detective has cracked around 70,000 cases, authored two books and been the subject of a documentary named Lady James Bond. But all this, she says, would have been impossible if it weren't for her network. One needs more than exceptional deductive reasoning and a sidekick. "No private investigator can work alone," Rajani stresses.

Client confidentiality isn't the only thing private detectives fiercely protect. It's also their staff. Utpal Chaudhary, who runs Lotus Detective from a nondescript office in Citi Mall, Lokhandwala, is secretive about the 380 employees he has scattered across the country. He also dabbles in film and song distribution under his Lotus Films banner. But sleuthing is Chaudhary's passion, and he makes no bones about the wide gulf between fact and fiction.
"Private detectives in India aren't authorised to handle serious cases," he says when asked about murder and extortion — staple themes in most detective canons. Almost all his cases comprise child custody and divorce settlements, property disputes and suspected infidelity. Those who approach Chaudhary are looking for an upper hand in court, relying on him to dig up dirt on the opposing party.

Familial discord has much to do with the mushrooming of detectives in the Oshiwara-Lokhandwala area. Sujeet Menezes, who heads the Maharashtra chapter of the Association of Private Detectives & Investigators (APDI), says there are 50 private investigators from the state who are currently registered with the organisation. Of these, approximately 60% (or 30 detectives) operate in Mumbai. But the Oshiwara-Lokhandwala belt alone has eight listed sleuths at the time of this article — most of whom run their businesses from malls. A prime example is Raaj Talele, who operates Spyera Security and Detective just a few aisles away from Chaudhary's Lotus Detective in the same mall. Although he admits there's a proliferation of sleuths in the area, he brushes off any notion of competition. "See here," he says, pointing to a photograph of him with Vidya Balan and Dia Mirza on stage. Also present are a handful of women, including his former mentor, Rajani Pandit. "We were the only detectives invited to the trailer launch of Bobby Jasoos." His message is loud and clear.

Talele assisted Pandit for seven years before setting up Spyera Security and Detective in 2000. Ask him what makes a successful detective, and he says nonchalantly: "Good detectives are good liars." This is a profession where deceit and manipulation is required to uncover the truth. "And you can't do that if you refuse to lie," he shrugs.

Most detective work involves building up strong arguments for humdrum litigations, but Utpal Chaudhary has had his share of 'thrilling' cases too. One of them involved tracing the whereabouts of a Bollywood actress whose name he refuses to divulge. The other was the Moon Das case. He recounts how Moon's beau Avinash Patnaik had hired him to snoop on Moon on suspicion of adultery. When news broke about Patnaik's death, Chaudhary went to the Oshiwara police. "They didn't even know Avinash was Moon's husband until I gave them all the information," he says. Even then, he believes cops and detectives can have a symbiotic relationship. "Like bade bhai-chhote bhai."

Sleuths India Managing Director Naman Jain is more practical about the cop-private detective relationship. "We sometimes have to work against the police," he says over the phone from Delhi. Although Sleuths India has its share of divorce and infidelity cases, its strengths lie in due diligence and corporate espionage. The Delhi-based agency has an arm opposite Infiniti Mall, Lokhandwala, and boasts of clients such as Honda, Tata, Reliance, Bharat Petroleum and Reckitt Benckiser.

Sleuths India handles 160-170 cases a month. About 200 detectives work for Naman Jain in teams led by ex-Intelligence Bureau and Army officers. He has a countrywide network of 40,000 informants and 75 moles placed in companies at the time of our conversation. This is a well-oiled machine.

Jain dismisses portrayals of detectives in popular culture. Private investigation to him is a commercial rather than social profession. He also rubbishes the need for disguises in this line of work, stating that impersonation is actually a criminal offense. "The best investigator," he shares, "doesn't look like one."

But Pandit belongs to a different school of thought. Like Bobby Jasoos in the film, she's used several garbs to obtain valuable information from unsuspecting people. Pandit has gone undercover as a house help, pretended to be blind, and even played a mentally challenged woman at Juhu Beach to eavesdrop on two businessmen she was hired to investigate. She also has the advantage of having police contacts since her father was a CID officer. "The cops read my work and take cues from them," she winks, referring to her books Mayaajal (Phantasmagoria) and Chehre Adche Chehre (Faces Behind Faces).

Raaj Talele, like Naman Jain, also believes disguises are impractical. But he swears by 'masquerading' and admits to posing as a chauffeur and a new neighbour. Shadowing or stalking, however, has been on the decline — at least for him. Talele now uses a foolproof but controversial method to keep tabs on subjects: tracking software. With a sly smile, he tells me how he's either proved or disproved someone's infidelity by tracking calls, messages and even GPS locations with the help of an app. As expected, he refuses to name this app. "Photographs don't prove a thing," he explains in an effort to justify his means. "Two people hanging out together isn't evidence of disloyalty. You need to present something concrete."

Each private detective has a unique modus operandi. But they are unanimous about the importance of guarding against possible threats and intimidation. Chaudhary reveals how a bunch of goons once stormed his office and beat him up for indicting a friend in a case. Talele says there's been no such attempt on his life "because he takes great care never to be found out". Ditto Naman Jain. The risk to a detective's life, it seems, is inversely proportional to the secrecy of operations.

Women detectives have their own share of problems. For starters, Pandit says, it's unsafe for a female sleuth to go to dingy bars or isolated areas late at night to spy on certain targets. Such places are frequented by night owls of a certain kind. She talks about the time she was almost picked up by a madam who wanted her for a 'waiting client'. To this end, she delegates late-night and other risky tasks to male employees in her team.

But women make for better spies, she insists. "They are better listeners and pick up certain nuances men can't. They are better at avoiding suspicion. They are also better at deciphering expressions and emotions."

The feisty Bobby Jasoos would agree with that.