DNA profiling now in Odisha; boost for police

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Feb 25:

Odisha police is all set to get a huge shot in the arm with a DNA profiling laboratory being opened at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) here.

Odisha police will not have to send samples for DNA profiling in murder, paternity suit and other cases to Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh anymore.

Besides, it would also save time since getting reports from these centres can take up to six months. Getting a DNA report would now take no more than 15 days, which would definitely help expedite investigation in criminal cases.

The state of the art laboratory, set up at an estimated cost of around Rs 7 crore, has all modern equipment and technology at par with other forensic labs across the country.

Originally scheduled to be opened on Wednesday, the inauguration had to be cancelled at the last minute due to ‘unavoidable’ reasons. The formal inauguration would take place in the next day or two, sources said.

SN Tiwari, former DGP of Odisha said DNA profiling (also called DNA testing or DNA typing) is a technique employed by forensic scientists the world over to identify individuals by characteristics of their DNA.

DNA profiling is of immense help in determining parentage, in immigration tests and solving murder cases.