Things became a little public for a private detective on Tuesday when he landed in the police net after his ‘target’ complained he was stalking her. The detective, Jai Singh Arya, was hired by a software engineer working abroad to spy on his wife from whom he seeks a divorce. The wife has slapped charges of harassment for dowry on the man and the case is on at the Karkardooma court for the last one and a half years.

Call-centre employee Vaishali (name changed) had noticed Arya shadowing her for the last few days. She also learnt from her office security that he had paid three visits to her firm in Sector 59, Noida and had inquired about her whereabouts.

In her complaint to the police, Vaishali stated: “There is a man chasing me wherever I go. He had come to my office and inquired about me from the company’s guard. I have also noticed him near my residence in Sector 62.” On Wednesday, when Arya was going about his spying near Vaishali’s home, the police sprung on him.

Arya works with the Sharma detective agency in West Delhi’s Ashoka Enclave. He told the police that the husband had put him on the job before leaving the country.

Arya told the police that his company is a registered and respectable firm, official sources said. His advocate N P Singh argued that the woman’s husband sought the services of the detective agency because Vaishali was allegedly not receiving the court’s summons at her home. Singh said the husband hired the detective to find out his estranged wife’s present address.