KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to release Rs220 million to the University of Karachi so that a laboratory can be established at KU’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) to conduct proper forensic DNA testing and analysis.
Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah made the decision on Sunday during a meeting on the long-pending proposal to construct the province’s first forensic science and investigation lab. The meeting was held in the wake of the deaths of two minor brothers on November 11 reportedly due to food poisoning after dining at a DHA restaurant.
Since Sindh lacks a forensic laboratory of its own, the food and other samples were despatched to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency in Lahore to help the police investigation. The CS was briefed on the existing DNA testing and analysis as well as related research facilities at KU and Jamshoro’s Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (Lumhs).
Lumhs Vice-Chancellor Dr Bikha Ram Devrajani briefed the meeting that since 2015 the university’s DNA lab has received some 1,000 samples for forensic analysis and up to 80 per cent of them were sent by the Karachi police.
He said that 18 per cent of the samples were sent by other organisations of the province and the remaining were sent by the Balochistan government. KU VC Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan said that similar DNA testing facilities at the university were largely being used to conduct academic and scientific research, adding that they were not primarily meant to conduct forensic analysis.
The meeting decided to upgrade the existing DNA testing and research facilities of KU and Lumhs so they can be used for forensic analysis. For the purpose the CS ordered the release of Rs220 million to KU in the next two days.
The meeting resolved that police officials and public hospitals’ medico-legal officers will be trained for proper collection, handling and preservation of samples for forensic investigation, and that the training will be conducted under the aegis of experts from KU and Lumhs.
The CS said the government has reserved over 30 acres near the M-9 motorway to establish a proper forensic laboratory, adding that relevant experts and academicians should be included in the project.
The meeting was attended by the health care commission chairman, the health secretary, the home secretary, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre executive director and other officials.