THANE: A group of five private detectives from Navi Mumbai and Mira Road has been busted by the Thane crime branch for illegally sourcing and selling call data records (CDRs). Four of them have been arrested, while one is on the run.Those arrested include the alleged mastermind, Makesh Pandian, who runs Globe Detective Agency at Vashi, and his accomplices Prashant Palekar (49), Jigar Makwana (35) and Samresh Jha (32) aka Pratik Mohpal. The one who is on the run is believed to have been a key player in IAS officer Radheshyam Mopalwar’s blackmailing case.The group is believed to have exploited connections with rogue police officers in a north Indian state to procure CDRs, which were then sold. A preliminary probe has revealed that the accused sold CDRs to a couple of private insurance companies.“Most accident claims, which are sub judice, require certain parameters to corroborate claims. Hence, insurance companies used the detectives to procure CDRs to make their case strong to get claims rejected. We are subjecting this to further probe,” DCP (crime) Abhishek Trimukhe told TOI.“This is invasion of privacy. No person, unless authorized by competent government authorities or who is a police officer of the rank of deputy commissioner and above, can avail of CDRs. In this case, we have recovered CDRs of 177 persons. Each was sourced for Rs 10,000-15,000 and then given to buyers who had commissioned the deals,” Trimukhe said. Besides private insurance firms, buyers included people suspecting spouses of cheating, and businesspersons and government officials spying on rivals or colleagues.The crime branch was tipped off by informers and a team started monitoring the detectives’ moments. “We decided to wait and strike at the right time. Last week, Pandian had come to Kalwa to give a CDR to a client. We caught him red-handed. He broke down and revealed the names of the others,” said senior inspector Nitin Thakre.The crime branch team raided the detectives’ offices and homes and seized three desktop PCs, two laptops, and 11 mobile phones. Electronic copies of 177 CDRs of as many persons were found on the seized computers.Trimukhe said officials of a couple of insurance firms are on the police’s radar and will be questioned for their role in procuring CDRs illegally.The sale of call details in this manner has serious security ramifications. At present, intelligence and law enforcement agencies are permitted to procure CDRs only for the purpose of investigations. Trimukhe said several detective agencies across the country are brazenly attempting to get CDRs illegally to make a fast buck.