Everything seemed perfect the groom, his family and financial status. But a last minute check by a detective agency on the boy's past opened up a can of worms.

The boy was not only a divorcee but had two daughters from his first marriage. Besides, he was an alcoholic, the main reason his wife left him.

The information was enough for the girl's father to call off the marriage and file a cheating case against the person. This is just one case where a private detective was roped in to clear the doubts about a boy or girl planning to get married.

"With more and more marriages being solemnised through Internet and matrimonial agencies, it is common that parents get suspicious about the match and take our services," says Sanjay Singh of Indian Detective Agency here.

"No one wants to be cheated by the other party. Besides, parents want that their children never face any trouble after marriage.

"This is where we come into action. They take our service to verify every detail of the prospective bride or groom well before the marriage," he says.

Echoing Singh's views, Bhawana Paliwal of Rani Bagh-based Times Detective says: "Earlier marriages were arranged after lot of verification. But the trend has changed.

People are now selecting matches through Internet or after a small interaction, putting themselves at risk of falling into a trap."

To avoid fraud, many people are opting to check the past of their prospective partner through detective agencies.

"Those who spend lakhs on organising grand marriages don't hesitate to spend some extra bucks and promptly take our service," says Paliwal, whose firm charges a minimum of Rs 15,000 for investigating a person's profile.

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