THE day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared open season for sting operations against corrupt government officials, sales of spy gadgets went through the roof in the Capital. A Mail Today investigation that covered the Capital’s electronic hotspots, including Palika Bazaar, Lajpat Rai Market and Shakarpur, found a thriving spy gadget market where less than ` 500 can buy the equipment needed for a basic sting operation.
More money in hand only means more sophisticated snooping, and only the spy is the limit, discovered.
From spy cameras installed in mangalsutras, necklaces, earrings, and wristwatches to pens and key rings, sound and image recording devices are easily available for between Rs 500 and Rs 50,000. The gadgets are easy to use, and trendy to boot.
The one dark lining to the sting cloud is that most of the clever stuff comes from China, and there aren’t any warranties available.
Soaring sales
“ The sale of spy gadgets has gone up by almost 90 per cent overnight. Generally, we used to manage to sell around 12 spy gadgets but today I have already sold around 25 such gadgets so far,” Sachin Kumar, owner of Royal Palace Shop at Palika Bazaar , told Mail Today on Thursday afternoon. “ Some the buyers even talked about AAP,” he added.
Manoj, the proprietor of another spy gadget outlet at Chandni Chowk’s Lajpat Rai Market, said he had sold around such gadgets to AAP volunteers a few days ago, and that had bulk orders in the pipeline. “ It’s true, sales have gone up tremendously,” he said.
Miniature cameras are by far most sought after device, according to Manoj. The six hotselling gadgets, he said, were cameras in pens, keyrings, buttons, watches, pen- drives and eyeglasses. “ They are handy and user- friendly. One can charge the battery with Universal Serial Bus ( USB) cable and battery backup ranges from five to eight hours, depending usage,” he explained.
The spy pen and keyrings were available for Rs 500, after the mandatory round of haggling of course. “ The pen spy cameras almost similar at all the shops but the designs and quality of keyrings vary,” Manoj said.
Spy cameras installed in electronic car keys are also available but they come dearer, at between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000.
Funky as well and plain eyeglasses straddle a spectrum of price bands too, given their utility.
The cameras installed inside these are tiny but have high resolution as well as depth of field.
The most interesting item by is what Palika’s electronic hustlers call the SIM camera.
A tiny box, about the size of matchbox, and its applications have no limit but one’s imagination. “ One can put a mobile SIM card inside it and leave it wherever he wants to a conduct a sting. After calling on that number from anywhere, it gets activated and records video and audio of the entire room area as tiny cameras are installed on every side and send it to the calling mobile phone,” said Ajay, owner of Electronic Solutions.
That’s not the only way, Ajay said. “ Whenever there is any sound in the immediate vicinity of the box, it will call the paired mobile automatically. The device has an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity ( IMEI) number, and its cost ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000.
Versatile devices
“ One can use iPod headphones to adjust the focus of revolving cameras installed inside the iPod and hear or record from few hundred metres,” said Suresh, proprietor of a small shop in Shakarpur, adding that this kind of spyware is expensive and is ordered only on specific request.
Other shopkeepers remained dismissive about the AAP sting effect. “ Most buyers are school- and college going students; they buy it for various purposes,” one said with a smirk. “ A few purchase them to record lectures, and some to settle scores,” added another who claimed to sell 10 spy pens every day.
Written by me and published in Mail Today
More money in hand only means more sophisticated snooping, and only the spy is the limit, discovered.
From spy cameras installed in mangalsutras, necklaces, earrings, and wristwatches to pens and key rings, sound and image recording devices are easily available for between Rs 500 and Rs 50,000. The gadgets are easy to use, and trendy to boot.
The one dark lining to the sting cloud is that most of the clever stuff comes from China, and there aren’t any warranties available.
Soaring sales
“ The sale of spy gadgets has gone up by almost 90 per cent overnight. Generally, we used to manage to sell around 12 spy gadgets but today I have already sold around 25 such gadgets so far,” Sachin Kumar, owner of Royal Palace Shop at Palika Bazaar , told Mail Today on Thursday afternoon. “ Some the buyers even talked about AAP,” he added.
Manoj, the proprietor of another spy gadget outlet at Chandni Chowk’s Lajpat Rai Market, said he had sold around such gadgets to AAP volunteers a few days ago, and that had bulk orders in the pipeline. “ It’s true, sales have gone up tremendously,” he said.
Miniature cameras are by far most sought after device, according to Manoj. The six hotselling gadgets, he said, were cameras in pens, keyrings, buttons, watches, pen- drives and eyeglasses. “ They are handy and user- friendly. One can charge the battery with Universal Serial Bus ( USB) cable and battery backup ranges from five to eight hours, depending usage,” he explained.
The spy pen and keyrings were available for Rs 500, after the mandatory round of haggling of course. “ The pen spy cameras almost similar at all the shops but the designs and quality of keyrings vary,” Manoj said.
Spy cameras installed in electronic car keys are also available but they come dearer, at between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000.
Funky as well and plain eyeglasses straddle a spectrum of price bands too, given their utility.
The cameras installed inside these are tiny but have high resolution as well as depth of field.
The most interesting item by is what Palika’s electronic hustlers call the SIM camera.
A tiny box, about the size of matchbox, and its applications have no limit but one’s imagination. “ One can put a mobile SIM card inside it and leave it wherever he wants to a conduct a sting. After calling on that number from anywhere, it gets activated and records video and audio of the entire room area as tiny cameras are installed on every side and send it to the calling mobile phone,” said Ajay, owner of Electronic Solutions.
That’s not the only way, Ajay said. “ Whenever there is any sound in the immediate vicinity of the box, it will call the paired mobile automatically. The device has an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity ( IMEI) number, and its cost ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000.
Versatile devices
“ One can use iPod headphones to adjust the focus of revolving cameras installed inside the iPod and hear or record from few hundred metres,” said Suresh, proprietor of a small shop in Shakarpur, adding that this kind of spyware is expensive and is ordered only on specific request.
Other shopkeepers remained dismissive about the AAP sting effect. “ Most buyers are school- and college going students; they buy it for various purposes,” one said with a smirk. “ A few purchase them to record lectures, and some to settle scores,” added another who claimed to sell 10 spy pens every day.
Written by me and published in Mail Today
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