A 60-year-old man, Tarun Vincent Daniel, who has run a private detective agency in Delhi for nearly 25 years, was arrested for illegally obtaining call detail records (CDRs). The Crime Branch of Delhi Police apprehended Daniel on July 18 after a decoy client paid him Rs. 60,000 for the records. Daniel was introduced to this illegal activity by two men from Gurgaon and had provided CDRs to over 100 clients through his agency, AD Detective.
The sting operation involved a pre-arranged meeting near Dwarka Mor metro station. Upon arrest, Daniel claimed ill health and was uncooperative about his associates, leading police to retrieve his phone from his Uttam Nagar home. He later disclosed that his accomplices included Anurag and Arjun from Gurgaon and Sanjay from Bulandshahr, who worked at a telecom company.
Private detective agencies in India operate in a legal grey area due to the absence of specific regulations. The 2007 Private Detective Agency Regulation Bill, which aimed to establish licensing requirements, was withdrawn from Parliament. Daniel and his accomplices face charges under Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy). The case highlights the ease of obtaining CDRs through information brokers and middlemen.