Private detective agencies are in high demand this poll season as candidates and different political parties are hiring them to scoop out dirt on their rivals.
The agencies are being tasked to keep tabs on day-to-day activities in the rival camp to ascertain the strategies being formulated for the polls. Those who didn’t get tickets are also hiring these agencies to sabotage the campaigns of those who are contesting, industry insiders said.
Political parties are hiring detective agencies to keep an eye on their opponents, to know their strategies and also to find out information related to hidden criminal records, illicit relationships or videos that have the potential to derail one’s election campaign, said Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman of the Association of Private Detectives and Investigators.
“Agencies are also being approached by those who haven’t been given a ticket to contest the polls to mar the party candidate’s image and scuttle their prospects of winning,” he said.
According to Mahesh Chandra Sharma, MD of GDX Detectives, hiring private detective agencies during poll season has become an established practice now.
“However, due to more pre-poll alliances this season, a new trend has emerged wherein disgruntled members who are not in favour of the pacts are hiring services of detective agencies to collect information about the alliance partners, to break it or even use it later to blackmail and secure better portfolios in case the alliance wins,” Sharma claimed.
“The amounts being charged for services range anywhere between ₹1-60 lakh and the clients don’t shy away from opening their kitty for a favourable result,” an official at an agency said.