Officers say this is a crucial element of the investigation, as without a DNA match, the case against accused would not stand
The Wai police investigating the Satara serial murder case are facing a major challenge looking for the biological relatives of those killed. The police said it is crucial to match the DNA of the deceased with that of the relatives to establish identity, failing which the entire case could fall flat.
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While the police have already exhumed the remains of five people, those of the sixth person, as stated in mid-day’s August 19 edition, were exhumed from the backyard of Dr Pol’s farmhouse on Friday.
The Wai police have already got a major hurdle in their investigation when they learnt that one of the six deceased, Salma Shaikh, was an orphan and there was no way they would be able to match her DNA with anyone’s in order to scientifically establish her identity.
A senior forensic scientist attached to the state forensic science laboratory said they had collected the required samples from the remains for DNA testing at the Pune laboratory, and that this case was top priority. At present, the Pune FSL’s biology department has around 250 cases waiting for DNA analysis. The scientist said, “We will be able to extract the DNA from samples received, but so far the police have not given us blood samples of any relatives to match their DNA with.”
A senior police officer, who is privy to the investigation, said, “It will be a challenge for us to get in touch with the direct blood relatives of the deceased. Some cases are as old as 2003 and we will have to verify the addresses they had given while registering the missing complaint at the time.”
“Some relatives have approached the local police, but we haven’t yet collected their blood samples. We expect the forensic team from Mumbai to do the needful,” the officer said. Interestingly, unlike the unscientific manner in which the earlier remains of five victims were exhumed from the poultry farm, the remains of the sixth person were exhumed in the presence of the forensic team.
As stated earlier, adult humans have 206 bones, whereas there were just 100 bones in the two skeletal remains sent to the civil hospital in Satara, said dermatologist Dr Sheetal Sawant, who extracted the femur bones, skull and hair for a DNA analysis on Thursday.
Dr Sawant said, “We do not want any flaws in our postmortem report and hence, we have only given the police a preliminary note stating that “‘Opinion reserved’ on cause of death and sample sent for DNA, age and ‘sex determination’. We haven’t started preparing the postmortem notes as we are not experts and do not want to state anything that may cause hurdles later.”
Dr Shrikant Bhoi, civil surgeon, Satara, said, “The Mumbai forensic team will be visiting us over the weeken. We will provide them with whatever assistance they require.”
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