The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Forensic Science Lab gets advanced equipment

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Forensic Science Lab gets advanced equipment

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, NOV. 24. Establishing whether a crime suspect has fired a weapon in an offence has always been a tricky affair for the police. But with the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) acquiring sophisticated equipment, the investigator can conclusively prove if the weapon was used by the suspect with a negligible margin of error.

The new equipment, Scanning Electron Microscope - Energy Dispersive X-ray Analyser (SEM-EDXA), can detect most minute traces of Gun Shot Residue (GSR) found on the body of the suspect. As a gun is fired, the GSR comprising chemical substances that burn and produce gases providing the velocity for the bullet is also sprayed out and gets deposited on the hands, clothes and even on the face of the person.

Sophisticated tool

In most criminal cases where a firearm is used, the GSR residue report is of critical importance, as it would link the crime and the criminal. Though the many forensic science laboratories have equipment to determine the GSR residue, the SEM-EDXA is the most sophisticated one to be acquired by any forensic science laboratory in the country. The equipment, costing about Rs 1.5 crore, has been installed in the CFSL at Ramanthapur and the its director, Chandranath Bhattacharya, has been specially trained in its use.

The SEM-EDXA, sources say, is so sensitive that forensic scientists can crack most of the crime mysteries in which weapons have been used. The samples used for testing are also non-destructible so that they can be preserved as pieces of material evidences, sources explained.

Training

The SEM-EDXA, with a dedicated software for automated detection of GSR, will be dedicated to the nation by the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice Devinder Gupta, on Wednesday.

Coinciding with the inauguration, the CFSL is also organising a national level workshop on "GSM particle analysis using SEM-EDXA" on its premises where GSR experts from the United Kingdom, Jenny Goulden and Anthony Hyde, would train forensic experts in the new techniques.

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