Collector’s Chamber Allegedly Bugged in Madhya Pradesh: Damoh Collector Uncovers Secret Surveillance Network Inside His Own Office

What began as an ordinary morning inside the Damoh Collectorate soon spiralled into a disturbing revelation that has shaken Madhya Pradesh’s administrative circles.

District Collector Pratap Narayan Yadav had reportedly convened a confidential discussion with a select group of officers inside his chamber.

The plan was to conduct a surprise inspection of a government department — a move intended to remain strictly under wraps.

The doors were closed, only trusted officials were present, and the details of the inspection had not been shared outside the room.

But within moments, Yadav received an unexpected phone call from the very department he was preparing to inspect.

According to the Collector, the caller casually remarked that they had heard he was on his way for an inspection. The statement immediately alarmed him.

“I had not shared this information with anyone outside the room. There was no way the department should have known,” Yadav reportedly said later. “That is when I realised something was seriously wrong.”

Having taken charge in Damoh only recently, Yadav initially suspected there could be an insider leaking information.

However, he soon began to fear that the breach was much deeper — that conversations inside his own office were somehow being secretly monitored.

For any district administration in India, the Collector’s chamber is considered one of the most sensitive and secure spaces. Confidential meetings, administrative decisions and high-level discussions routinely take place there.

The possibility that such a space had been compromised raised serious concerns within the bureaucracy.

Instead of creating panic or immediately launching a public inquiry, Yadav quietly decided to test his suspicion himself.

In a simple but carefully thought-out move, he reportedly played a live television news broadcast on his mobile phone at high volume inside his chamber and then stepped out.

He walked into the adjoining PA room — the small office area used by personal assistants and support staff just outside the Collector’s cabin.

There, he allegedly lifted a telephone receiver and was stunned by what he heard.

The same television audio playing inside his chamber could reportedly be heard clearly through the phone line in the adjacent room.

Officials familiar with the matter said the discovery strongly indicated that the communication setup between the two rooms had been tampered with, allowing conversations from inside the Collector’s chamber to be intercepted and overheard.

“The same audio was audible through the receiver outside. It suggested that conversations inside the chamber were being monitored,” a senior official said.

What has made the case even more unsettling is the suspicion that the surveillance may not have been recent.

Officials believe the alleged interception system may have existed for years, predating Yadav’s posting in Damoh.

According to preliminary findings, some employees stationed in the adjoining office may have routinely listened to confidential discussions, sensitive phone calls and administrative deliberations before quietly passing the information to outsiders.

The leaked information, investigators suspect, may have helped certain officials or departments avoid surprise inspections and administrative scrutiny.

Yadav has alleged that some staff members were sharing confidential information either for personal benefit or to gain favour with influential individuals.

Following the discovery, action was taken swiftly.

An Assistant Grade-3 employee, believed to be central to the alleged operation, was suspended immediately.

A clerk who had reportedly remained posted at the Collectorate for an unusually long duration was transferred back to his parent department, the Sarva Shiksha Kendra.

An office attendant was also removed from the Collectorate and sent back to his original posting.

Authorities have now seized the telephone instruments from the office and sent them for forensic and technical examination.

Investigators are trying to determine how the interception system functioned, how long it had been operational and whether others beyond the identified staff members were involved.

The probe is also examining whether confidential administrative information had been systematically passed to individuals with vested interests.

Officials have described the matter as a grave breach of government confidentiality and administrative trust.

“This is being treated as a serious compromise of official secrecy,” a senior official associated with the investigation said.