Secret watch: Inside the thriving world of private detectives in India

An increasing demand for detective services points to a growing need to regulate the unorganised and unlicensed world of sleuths

It’s 10.45 pm and Rajani Pandit has just wrapped up work and returned to her Mumbai residence. Clad in her usual cotton salwar-kameez, she sells the image of an innocuous Maharashtrian maushi (maternal aunt) with ease. Warm and affable, she looks like someone you’d easily spill your secrets to.
 
It’s not out of the ordinary for Pandit to keep irregular hours. It’s also not unusual for the 56-year-old to pretend to be someone she isn’t. “I’ve pretended to be visually challenged, or speech- and hearing-impaired. I’ve also spent days impersonating a beggar,” she says.
 
Pandit is part of