A Private Eye Shadows You - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: Ankita and Suraj (names changed) were made to work as a team in an IT company in Hi-Tec City. Expectedly, they developed more than professional ties as is usual for young beginners.

After being together for a while, they now realised that they had more in common than they had initially thought. The first year of their courtship was rosy as both of them took time out to meet up and they would speak on phone for hours.

However, things began to turn sour when Suraj began to suspect Ankita of cheating on him. To his chagrin he found that her phone was always busy. Also unlike earlier she was not too eager to meet Suraj.

When he confronted her and demanded to know who she had been talking to for such long time, she explained that it was her mother. However, Suraj was not convinced, and Ankita on her part did not make any special attempts to ease his suspicion.

It was time, Suraj thought, to trail her and find out once and for all what she had been up to. And, he approached a detective agency in the city for help.

Investigation revealed that it was Ankita's team leader who she had been talking to all this while. A fissure developed between the two as he charged her with infidelity. 'I think the relationship broke up. But I'm not sure for our job ends right there,' said the detective. This is the story of new age couples in the city.

According to five registered private detective agencies in the city, the trend of unleashing a detective on his/her lover is fast growing in the twin cities with young lovers (in their twenties). The agencies get as many as 200-250 such cases per month. What's more interesting is that the clients include school goers and college students.

Besides the five agencies, there are more than 40 unregistered detective agencies in the city who get somewhere between 50-100 assignments a month. A check with them reveal that the young, even college students, give them assignments, mostly to trail their lovers.

And, sometimes the quarry, after becoming suspicious, go out of the city to escape notice but many youngsters are willing to pay hefty sums to track them, say detective agencies. Apart from this they get nearly 250-300 requests asking them to get the call records of their partners.

With suspicion rife in most relationships, private detectives are making hay. And it is not just hyperanxious youths, even married men are asking agencies to trail their wives.

'Out of 50 such cases we receive in a month, almost 50 per cent turn out to be true. On an average we get two to three cases per month where in a high-school or a college student approach us asking to spy on his/her lover.

As we keep their identity confidential they are not afraid to approach us. We used to get similar requests even three years ago, but comparatively very less in number,' said Captain DK Giri of Sharp Detectives and chairman of Association of Private Detectives and Investigators in India.

'Most of the students support their suspicion by saying that his/her partner is moving closely with another classmate of his/her,' he added.

Surprisingly, these youngsters are ready to spend big bucks for the assignments. On an average these agencies charge Rs 20,000 for a period of four days of vigil. The fee would be doubled if they were made to track a person out of station.

Not only this, these agencies are also getting calls from other countries asking them to spy on their partners who are in India. 'The chances of getting an assignment from abroad is 50 per cent higher than getting an assignment in India to track their partners' movements abroad. This is mainly because of the charges,' added Giri.

Psychologists say that earlier friendships were based on mutual understanding which resulted in long term relationships. But now-a-days most friendships are materialistic and short-term

Girls of this generation think of having a boyfriend for security and to have access to free rides and gifts. For boys a relationship is a status symbol.

Psychologist P Jyothi Raja says, 'We have got several such cases of late. This rise can be mainly attributed to suspicion that is developed because of over possessiveness which further leads to jealousy. After being friends for sometime, a boy becomes over possessive of his girl. This is when they start becoming very bossy and demanding of their partners.

At this stage they can't even bear the fact that their partner is moving freely, or hanging out with someone else. As boys now-a-days usually have more than one girlfriend, girls tend to be very insecure and thus become suspicious.'

Jyothi says when the youths are in the grip of suspicion about their lovers, they don't believe anybody, not even their best pal, and end up approaching an agency. Another psychologist says jealousy often comes up in the guise of suspicion. 'It's more self doubt than doubting others,' she says.

Categories of agents and charges

Category A comprises of highly skilled agents handpicked from CBI, Police department, Army and other fields. One has to shell out Rs 6,000 per day if they hire Category A agents.

Category B agents are skilled and are mostly engaged for pre-marital, post-marital enquiries and employee relations. These are agents with an experience not less than three to four years in the field. They charge Rs 5,000 per day.

Category C agents are freshly recruited agents and will be charged Rs 4,000 per day.

For video recording (for evidences) these agencies charges Rs 1,000 to 2,000 per day.