Call data records racket in Mumbai: India’s first woman detective sent to custody

The 65-year-old is the seventh person to be arrested in the call data racket

A day after her arrest for allegedly procuring call data records (CDR) through illegal means, Rajani Pandit, regarded as India’s first woman private detective, was remanded in police custody till Wednesday.

Rajani Pandit outside a court in Thane on Saturday. (Praful Gangurde)

The 65-year-old is the seventh person to be arrested in the call data racket.

Unit 1 of the Thane crime branch on Saturday raided Pandit’s house at Shivaji Park in Dadar and seized her laptops, more than 1,000 compact discs (CDs) containing videos, a diary and call data records.

She allegedly procured CDR and sold them to others for a higher price. Pandit’s diary contained the details of her clients, said an officer from the Thane crime branch. Her social networking accounts are also under scanner.

Pandit’s name cropped up after four detectives were arrested a week ago. They were identified as Makesh Pandiyan, 42; Prashant Palekar, 49; Jigar Makawana, 35; and Samresh Jha alias Pratik Mohpal, 32 — all from Kalwa. They would allegedly sell call data records of clients for Rs25,000 to Rs50,000. They had been running the racket for more than five years, said another officer.

The other two arrested private detectives were identified as Santosh Pandagle and Prashant Sonawane.

A police official from the Thane commissionerate said, “Pandit’s advocate told the court that the sections are bailable and police custody was not required. We argued her custody will help us nab absconding accused.”