DNA lab to be set up for criminal investigations

The country's first-ever criminal investigation DNA profiling laboratory will be set up at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka to facilitate biological investigation of crimes.

At present the only such state-run facility is the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the police say it is not able to meet their growing demand for examinations. The lab was set up in 2005.

'Usually, the Criminal Investigation Department of police sends its biological evidence to the DNA lab at DMCH but the lab authorities take a long time to come up with the reports.

There are not enough experts too at the lab to examine the evidence properly,' a CID official said.

Eunus Ali, a scientific officer at the lab, however, said they received evidence only after a court had passed an order for examination and they could deliver the report within seven workings days.

It currently has a 15-member staff, including six scientific officers and six lab technologists, and receives at least 30 cases a month from different government agencies for investigation, national technical adviser Sharif Akteruzzaman of the lab told New Age.

As part of the Police Reform Programme, the government in last year approved the project for setting up the DNA profiling laboratory on one acre of land in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar at a cost of Tk 25 crore to be funded jointly by the

government and the Japanese Debt Cancellation Fund, CID sources said.

The police headquarters had sent the proposal in this regard to the government two years ago,

which was approved in mid-2010.

CID officials told New Age that the police headquarters had first wanted to run the laboratory under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police but later decided it should be run under the CID.

The construction of the lab will begin soon after the housing and public works department hands over the land to the authorities concerned.

Modern equipment will be purchased for the lab from foreign countries through international tender.

The chief of CID, deputy inspector general of police Saiful Alam, told New Age, 'We are going to set up the DNA lab along with some forensic labs in the country to identify criminals by examining the biological evidence.'

'Alongside the examinations of fingerprints and footprints at forensic labs, it is very important to examine the biological evidence like saliva, blood, hair, and sperm to identify the culprits accurately. The DNA lab will also help us complete investigations fast,' the DIG said.

To modernise the CID, the government has already decided to set up five more forensic laboratories under the Police Reform Programme to make investigations more effective and reliable.

All the laboratories, except one in the

Rapid Action Battalion headquarters, will be operated under the jurisdiction of the CID.

Read the original story on the daily New Age