Province completely dependent on Punjab

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtun-khwa is completely dependent on Punjab Forensic Sciences Agency (PFSA) for DNA profiling as the lone laboratory in the province is unable to do the required tests due to absence of a small kit that costs Rs700,000, a source told The News.

The provincial police not only faces delay in getting results of DNA tests from PFSA but is a cause of embarrassment for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government that has claimed to have reformed the police force.

The KP police are still waiting for the results of DNA tests from PFSA Lahore in the murder of four year old Asma in Gujjar Garhi village in Mardan. The case of seven year old Zainab from Kasur was worked out through the DNA profiling.

“The province has a DNA laboratory set up at the Khyber Medical College. However, the laboratory cannot facilitate the local police in DNA tests due to lack of equipment,” a source told The News.

Due to the lack of facilities at the local laboratory, the specimens in Asma case have been sent to PFSA the result of which is still awaited. An official of the KP Police on Friday said the DNA results were likely to be received next week.

The source said that the authorities were asked in recent months to purchase DNA identifier kits that would improve and expedite results in important cases.

“The authorities were asked to buy DNA identifier kits as it costs around Rs700,000 and can process up to 185 cases. This will not only expedite the results from the local laboratory but will also provide the facility to police free of cost. Presently, the police pay for every case to the PFSA,” the source told The News.

The source said that a number of cases sent by the Forensic Science Laboratory for DNA profiling were returned in the last many months due to lack of the required equipment.

“A single DNA test costs around Rs 10,000 or more and also affects the investigation due to the delay in getting results from Punjab. Investigators could probe the cases on a better way if the DNA profiling facility is made available at the local laboratories. This would help the entire process,” the source said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recently upgraded the local Forensic Sciences Laboratory by setting up more sections and hiring experts in different fields. However, it doesn’t have the facility to do DNA profiling.

“As far as the cases are concerned, there is zero pendency at the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Peshawar. Our seven sections have processed around 55,000 cases during 2017 and not a single case is pending with the lab at this moment,” its director Rabnawaz Khan told The News when asked about the performance of the facility.

He added that the Forensic Sciences Laboratory doesn’t DNA profiling facility and this is the reason the police have to approach PFSA in Lahore. He agreed that providing DNA profiling kits to the local lab can help the police to get better and speedy results in important cases.