After the establishment of a new crime scene management division’s control room, the Delhi government has been forwarded a proposal by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to set up District Mobile Crime Scene (DMCS) units in all of Delhi’s 14 police jurisdictions.
This development comes after the FSL had released a series of guidelines to the Delhi Police, and the courts laid out best practices to be carried out by police while managing a crime scene. The FSL had earlier set up the crime scene management division’s control room to coordinate with the investigating officers and mobile forensic teams — to reach the crime scene through the shortest possible routes and collect crucial evidence. The move came after several instances of evidence getting destroyed due to delay in sending it to forensic teams.
The project is designed to bring down the pendency of cases, standing at 4,500 at the moment. The units will comprise around 25 personnel, who will work in shifts providing 24×7 assistance. Each batch will comprise at least three scientific assistants, one photographer and a reporting officer. The proposal for the DMCS units has already been sent for a budget, including salaries for technical staff and machinery at Rs 35 crore. FSL officials said a written agreement for the project is expected soon.
“The norm usually was that the Delhi Police would collect the evidence and send it to the FSL for forensic evidence. The evidence would be collected by their division called the crime team. But when it would reach the courts, they would realise that the way the evidence was collected was shoddy.This is why we are offering this assistance,” said a senior FSL official.
The technical staff of the DMCS will be offering a preliminary forensic investigation. The staffers will help in collection of physical evidence like blood and hair samples for DNA sampling, and also offer a ballistics forensic investigation. However, the call to the DMCS will still be made by the case investigating officer.
“It is still within their ambit to ask for our assistance. Earlier, we would only work on important matters. Last time, we worked on the Fatehpur Beri Special Cell encounter, in which four criminals were gunned down. Now, we will assist in the smallest of crimes,” the officer said.
