So, which hotel are you staying in, sir?

Out of 34 years of police service, the six years that I spent in the intelligence wing of Haryana were the most enjoyable.

Call me mad, but I loved it with the all-consuming appetite of a man-eater, to flaunt my position before people, making it obvious that I was privy to some information about them, something special that mattered to others, being held in awe by many. Yes, even those with power.

Unspool to circa 1991. Remember the two Haryana CID men Raj Singh and Prem Singh, who were caught snooping around Rajiv Gandhi’s residence? It made the Congress pull the carpet from under the feet of the then prime minister Chandra Shekhar, who had to resign as fallout of the spying act.

It was passed off as ‘routine deployment’.

A minister in Haryana, immediately after having been sworn-in, himself caught by the collar a CID man scouting around his office. He had the then DGP summoned to explain it all.

Again it was routine deployment.

And now, I don’t really know what is going to happen in Delhi, after four sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau were caught for spying on the visitors to the rendered-ineffective CBI chief!

It is still being explained as routine deployment.

Let me tell you a secret not commonly known as to why the intelligence and security people wear black sunshades. Well they do it since they have to keep an eye on people milling around the VIP and not appear as if they are looking or staring suspiciously at them. No, not even from the corners of their eyes.

Even otherwise, dark sunshades seem somewhat intimidating, something that any sleuth will like.

There are many layers in the business of spying, ranging from surveillance to information gathering, to processing it with available inputs, to finally make it to the level of intelligence. Undercover operatives and counter-espionage guys are moles among the moles. Some may be fifth-columnists as well.

Physical protection of a VIP is entrusted to uniformed men, but the state CID has to take care of some important matters. These include finding out if the protectee wants to use the washroom; his meal preferences, arranging for a stool to make up for his height on the dais and his seating on the stage on a sofa with arms so that others don’t mob him.

There are so many interesting things one gets to learn: That Bansi Lal was allergic to flowers, hence we had to make sure that in the lineup of greeters no one carried a garland. So much so, if he visited a district even the beehives had to be removed from the trees in areas where he was to hold public meetings.

Once the then president Pranab Mukherjee had to visit the Surajkund Crafts Mela as chief guest. It was an open stage with sofas and tree branches extending like a canopy overhead. A pair of pigeons were on the branches cooing for a while as plainclothesmen stood below, shooing them away. As the birds flew off, however, some bark from the branches did land on the table in front of Mukherjee.

CID failure? Well, kind of. On another occasion, Sonia Gandhi was to come to Rewari. A local politician in the news for not-so-pleasant reasons was present when I was supervising the arrangements for the visit. As the CID inspector of the area leisurely walked up to me to whisper something in my ears, the politician thought it was something about to him and his ‘activities’. So, after some time, he walks up to me, asking, “Wasn’t he telling you something in your ears, sir?”

My response was, “No. In fact he wanted to know which hotel you were staying in, sir.”

Satisfied, the politician left, grinning from ear to ear.

THERE ARE MANY LAYERS IN THE BUSINESS OF SPYING, RANGING FROM SURVEILLANCE TO INFO GATHERING