NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: There’s nothing remotely James Bond-like about the drab corner in Gurgaon. But then, what better cover for a spot of cloak-and-dagger activity? Perhaps, for this is the home of Sunworks Consultants, which says it provides IT services to the healthcare and telecom space. But in a series of emails to Italian spyware firm Hacking Team, the company negotiated for high-end surveillance equipment that it said it was buying for the Research & Analysis Wing, India’s intelligence agency.In emails released by Wikileaks last week, Sunworks even said the licences had to be in its name because RAW cannot buy from foreign agencies. ET sifted through more than 3,400 Hacking Team emails, which reveal that India’s security services are buying spying technology, mostly through little known outfits that act as go-betweens.From Avi Electronics, a tiny Pune-based IT company that claims to work for the Signal and Communications Intelligence, to Titan Sea and Air Private Services, a logistics outfit that wants to procure spy technology for the Maharashtra police, India’s security services are hooking up with some unusual partners to strike what are among the most clandestine deals in technology world. “Indian agencies have availed of these (spy technology) services. The idea was that Indian agencies were to have in-house skills and they don’t want to depend on the big players in India," said a person familiar with the procurement processes at such services.This is in sharp contrast with the practices elsewhere. In the US, large defence contractors such as Booz Allen Hamilton have technology teams that service the intelligence agencies. All those who are part of the process need security clearance and have to sign non-disclosure agreements.The role of the intermediaries who communicated with Hacking Team for their Indian "clients" is questionable, said observers. "The government must probe the role of private intermediaries such as Semco and Titan (mentioned in the purported emails). They make no mention of this side of their business — procuring surveillance — anywhere on their websites," said Pranesh Prakash, policy director at Centre for Internet and Society.Companies that appear in the emails saying they provide services to the government and police Intelligence services in India include Semco Tech Services and Ortus Consulting. Another firm called Spantel sought location-tracking software for the army."We have recently received interest from one of the Indian LEAs (law enforcement agencies) to have a system where they can infect the mobile phones or SIM cards of all the subscribers in sensitive areas to continuously track their location with high accuracy," Prashant Chandak of Spantel said in an email in 2013. In a later mail, he said the client was the Army Corp of Signals.On its website, Spantel said it also works with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications, Idea, Aircel and other telecom companies. Small companies are a part of the current system, said a top executive in the defence arm of one of India’s largest conglomerates."They are just Indian representatives of the large companies but what they do is constantly create the demand. They will go meet people multiple times, tell them what is available and then offer to help procure the product. The services don’t go to them," the executive said.He said a tender is then issued based on the specifications the agency is shown in a pilot or demonstration. "There really isn’t much competition for the deals, given how they are structured," the person said.Hacking Team’s emails reflected this. "The customer would also need a technical specification document from us, as they may have to open a tender and, clearly, this has to be tailored to our solution. Do you have anything available that I can send to them?" Daniel Maglietta, chief of Hacking Team’s office in Singapore, said in an email sent in September 2014.There was no response to emails sent to Spantel, Semco, Sunworks, Avi Electronics, Ortus Consulting and Hacking Team.