Probing Anurag Singh: the private eye caught for spying on Jaitley

When Delhi police arrested Anurag Singh for allegedly obtaining BJP leader Arun Jaitely’s call detail records (CDR), everybody disowned him. The Delhi Police and private sleuths in the national capital, who took recourse in Anurag Singh’s technical brilliance to crack high profile cases in the past, declared him a rogue. In cases where government agencies and private detectives often snoop on individuals- in the name of national security and social service, Singh became a scapegoat for everyone else’s sins.

Singh was first arrested in connection with the tapping of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh’s phone in 2006. He was out on bail in that case, when police arrested him again last month, for alleged attempting to obtain Jaitely’s CDR.

He has confessed to the police saying he wanted to build contacts within the BJP to get out of the 2006 phone tapping scandal, reported CNN IBN .

Singh’s is from one of the influential families in Naraina village in outer Delhi, which later relocated to Defence Colony in south Delhi. Singh’s bail order dated 18 April, 2006, reveals that his wife was a lecturer in Ramjas College, University of Delhi, his mother was then serving as collector (Customs) and father was a retired Director General (Customs).

One of the lawyers who represented Singh in Amar Singh phone tap case, remembered him as “an extremely gentle and easy person to deal with.” He seemed to be a devoted son who used to visit his lawyers with his father, who was ailing, said the lawyer.

“On a few occasions, his brother, himself a lawyer, would accompany him,” the lawyer, who preferred not to be named, said.

Not much is known on why and how 36-year-old Singh, a qualified MBBS doctor, was lured into the world of hacking. But once he was, he quickly became connected among Delhi police and city’s private detectives in no time. Sources in the Delhi police say that he was in regular touch with slain cops Rajbeer Singh and Mohan Chand Sharma of Delhi police.

One of Anurag’s acquaintances said on the condition of anonymity, “He was officially providing his services to the police for an amount (payment). But money was not the only incentive. He was able to make good contacts with people who were in touch with these cops. Many of them gave him assignments.”

By 2006, according to court documents, Singh had been running V- Detect, a detective agency, for six to seven years from Central Delhi’s Connaught place area.

V Detect had expertise in providing intelligence, risk analysis, bank fraud investigative services, matrimonial, kidnapping, theft and burglary investigations in India and abroad, states the agency’s now defunct website. The website described the firm as a global private detective agency with the capability to carry out investigations worldwide.

Singh had another firm called Cyber Security Systems Pvt Ltd which he used to run from his Defence Colony residence.

Singh’s confidence stemmed from his updated knowledge about latest technology and equipment in the market.

“He was the man for securing our email connections and mobile phones. In every meeting he would ask if he could update my laptop with the latest anti-hacking software,” said one his former associates.

But for the fraternity of private detectives, Singh was never one of them.

Singh was willing to become a member of the association of private detectives but the membership was never granted. One of the private investigators said, “Singh was considered more of a hacker than an investigator.”

Insiders said that till the Amar Singh phone tap episode, Singh was heavily publicising V Detect through the Internet and word of mouth. It is believed that investigating agencies which used his skills in the match fixing case and DPS MMS scandal, among other high profile cases, stopped calling him after his arrest in 2006.

According to some persons from intelligence agencies, Singh was a RAW operative who was aiding external intelligence agencies with his technical skills.

Though he went underground after securing bail in the case, his business is said to have increased manifold after that. He was dealing with high profile clients including businessmen and politicians before his arrest in connection with illegally accessing Jaitley’s call data records.