With elections going richer in scale and plumper in significance, political parties across India are employing every possible tactic to outwit the opponents to ascend to the throne. Moral and ethics be dammed, as no political party is sincere enough to care ‘fair and square’ victory in elections. In the recently concluded Assembly Elections of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Goa, parties hired the services of private detectives to spy on their opponents to gain mileage. The nexus of politician and sleuths goes back to the centuries, though for India, it’s still in the early stages.

Hiring detectives gains momentum once the elections are round the corner, as every vote counts for parties. When a candidate’s fate hangs in balance due to impending voting, resorting to ‘any and every’ means available naturally becomes the outcome. And more so, sometimes it becomes necessary to know what the rivals are up to; after all, the battle is won by outwitting and defeating the opponent by securing more votes than him or her. “Nobody will tell it in open but yes, every political party, seeks services of private detectives for mileage over the rivals,” said a senior member of a regional party in Maharashtra.

What kind of roles a private detective agency can play in elections when there are Lakhs and crores are being distributed for votes? The doubts seem plausible enough for us to drive down to different parts of Mumbai for research and analysis on the same. This time, we did not bother to contact smaller detective agencies, knowing that they are hardly hired by political parties. We reached the office of one of India’s most reputed brand in the domain, Sleuths India Detectives, for some insight on the subject.

Digging deep into the matter, the director of Sleuths India Detectives, Mr. Naman Jain had to say this: “Our purpose is to serve clients wherever they need us, as we’re always open to carry out the tasks which are under the ambit of the law. Beyond that, we never entertain any clients, including the political ones as well.” Without delving further, the director had hinted us the ‘secrecy’ involved in detective services lent out to political parties. By the way, his response further corroborated that fact that almost every political party out there is trying to grab power by either ‘hook or crook’.

Detective agencies are today a multi-purposes entity and their fruitful association with political parties proves their growing clout and reach in the country. Today, every arena needs private sleuths to overcome unforeseen issues where law enforcement agencies can’t reach. There are many ways a political entity can engage highly-productive sleuths for their own benefits. From spying on rival candidates to giving loads of secret information, these private detective agencies in India are proving to be a real asset for them all. No matter how big or small the task is, they are ready with an infrastructural set to crack down of anything and everything deemed worthy by them. Using up-to-date equipments and experienced manpower, these detective agencies bring utmost results to political parties besides maintaining the desired level of secrecy. No one ever gets the hint of their working methodology and they, slowly and steadily, fetch each imaginable set of information to benefit their clients. With elections set to return this year in different states, these private sleuths are again going to be a ‘hot property’ for those with ambition of the throne.