CID officer arrested for giving call detail records to private investigators

Two people, including a constable from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), have been arrested for their “clandestine” operation of illegally accessing mobile call details records (CDRs) and giving them to private detective agencies, Central Crime Branch (CCB) police officers said.

A senior CCB officer, on condition of anonymity, said that the two accused, identified as CID constable Muniratna and the operation’s alleged mastermind Nageshwara Reddy, were arrested on Thursday.

The officer said that the investigation into the matter began in May this year that led to the registration of three cases against various private detective agencies. The agencies named in the case are Mahanagari Detective and Security Solutions Pvt Ltd and Rajdhani Corporate Service. Besides Muniratna and Reddy, the other people who have been detained for their involvement include Purushottama, Satish Kumar, Thippeswamy, Mahant Gowda, Revant, Gurupadaswamy, Srinivasa, and Bharat, the officer said adding that they were either owners or staff of the private investigative agencies.

During the probe, it was revealed that CID officer Muniratna played a pivotal role in the illegal operation as he supplied the CDRs to Nageswara Reddy. Muniratna, who has served in the CID’s technical cell for several years, had access to privileged information, which he exploited to execute the unauthorized activity. The officer said that Muniratna manipulated official requests to telecom service providers by adding additional phone numbers under the pretence of investigating ongoing cases. While the official CDRs were handed over to senior CID officials, Muniratna allegedly supplied unofficial records to Reddy for illicit use, the officer added.

The investigation further disclosed that the misappropriated CDRs were used beyond professional boundaries. There were reports of people acquiring CDRs to spy on their spouses or romantic partners, suspicious of infidelity. These records were frequently used to monitor whom their partners were communicating with, the officer said adding that the business professionals and political figures also allegedly obtained the CDRs of their competitors to gain a strategic advantage. The investigation also revealed that some police officers’ spouses were involved in this illegal activity of acquiring unauthorised CDRs to monitor their husbands’ communications, the officer added.