Mumbai: Soon two new Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) analysis centres will start at the Nanded and Kolhapur in addition to the existing six centres in the state where DNA profiling is done. This comes after the state government received a green signal for starting it by April 2020.
Currently, forensic laboratories across the state have over 3,000 pending DNA samples for analysis. “We have got the approval from the government and would start it by April next year,” said Dr Krishna Kulkarni, director of DFSL, Kalina, confirming the development.
As of now, DNA profiling is being done at six places- Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Amravati. All these centres come under the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories (DFSL). "Once all the paper work is done and two new centres start in Nanded and Kolhapur, Maharashtra will become the first state in India to have eight DNA profiling centres," a senior official said.
DNA profiling is a forensic technique used to identify individuals by the characteristics of their DNA. It plays the most important role in analysing evidence in cases of sexual assault. Apart from this, it also helps in identifying unknown bodies, paternity disputes and cases like murder or attempt to murder.
A senior official said the main reason behind starting new centres is to solve cases in a given time period. Currently, cases from Nanded are generally referred to the Aurangabad FSL. Also, if forensic experts are called for crime scene examination from the centre, it takes around 10 hours. Till then, the police has to ensure that the crime scene is not contaminated. “Now, with these centres, examination will take place faster, clearing the backlog,” he said.
DNA profiling has gained more importance, due to which, there has been a 15 per cent rise in DNA samples sent to the DFSL. On a daily basis, Kalina FSL get around 30 samples, and most of them are related to sexual abuse. The state forensic laboratories record the highest number of samples in the division of biology (semen, blood and semen), toxicology, DNA, excise (alcohol related issues) and cyber forensics.
