The Department of Home is planning to launch as many as 25 mobile forensic laboratories equipped with modern technology in a bid to ensure speedy investigation of crimes and increase the efficiency of the various forensic tests conducted in the state, officials said on Tuesday. 

These mobile forensic labs will be made operational in all the 24 districts and report to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Ranchi, officials said.

The development comes close on the heels of the High Court’s observation that the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Ranchi was in “primitive” stage and forensic facilities in the state were in dire need of an upgrade.

According to a highly-placed source in the home department, these mobile forensic labs will be set up in SUVs and will have facilities like ballistic kit, blood sample kit and photography kit. These vehicles will directly go to the spot of any crime and collect evidences for further study from the crime scenes, the source added.

State Home Secretary Rajeev Arun Ekka admitted that the Department of Home was planning to upgrade the infrastructure for forensic science in the state, but did not have the time to share further details as he was busy with the Cabinet meeting.

While hearing a case related to the death of Dhanbad district court judge Uttam Anand, who was run over by an autorickshaw as a part of an alleged conspiracy on July 28, the Jharkhand High Court observed that the Forensic Science Lab in Ranchi did not have equipment to conduct urine and blood tests of the accused.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, informed the court that the sample of urine and blood collected from the accused had to be sent to New Delhi for forensic studies. Following this, the court had directed the Home Secretary and FSL director to be present in the next hearing of the case via online medium.

“We have considered it very seriously that when the urine and blood testing facility of the accused is not available in the F.S.L., Ranchi, the capital of the State of Jharkhand, then for what purpose this department of State is functioning. Even after more than twenty years from the date of its creation, the State FSL, Ranchi appears to be still in its primitive stage,” a court order on August 25 read.

Equipping the mobile forensic laboratories with the latest gadgets and technology will not only speed up investigation in crime cases but also increase the efficiency of the results drawn through the various forensic tests conducted in these vans.