A day after a blaze at illegal manufacturing units snuffed out the lives of 43 labourers in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi area, the Delhi Police Crime Branch unit on Monday used 3D laser scan technology to reconstruct for investigation the fire incident at the four-storey building.
A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) too visited the site and collected samples from the building that housed a number of illegal manufacturing units and had stored flammable raw material such as cardboard boxes, plastic sheets and rexine.
This is the second time that the Delhi Police is using the 3D laser scan technology for investigation. The police had used the same technology to probe the massive fire in Karol Bagh’s Hotel Arpit Palace that killed 17 people in February.
According to Rajesh Deo, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime Branch, the 3D laser scanning of the place of incident has been done partially.
“Police teams have identified all the deceased. On Monday post-mortem of 20 victims was done. An FSL team from Rohini had conducted inspection and took samples from the accident spot. The police have recorded statements of nine witnesses who were present in the building at the time of incident. The police have also written letters to civic agencies regarding the other details,” said the DCP.
According to a senior police official, the 3D scanning of incidents is the only way to reconstruct the environment with 100 per cent accuracy. “Data gathered from the scanners help investigators quickly record data from the large-scale incidents such as factories, bridges, buildings and more speeding up both documentation and cleanup efforts,” said the senior police official.
“The evidence collected at the scene using the 3D laser scanner is preserved digitally, meaning investigators can use the stored crime scene data to continue their investigations. By using the digitally preserved crime scene, investigators can go back — virtually — and get the measurements they need,” he said.
On Sunday, it took over 150 firefighters nearly five hours to douse the blaze. As many as 63 people were pulled out of the building. While 43, including one minor, died, 16 were injured. Two fire department personnel were hurt while carrying out rescue work.
All the deceased were migrant labourers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Police and fire department officials said many of the fatalities occurred due to suffocation as the people were sleeping when the fire started at around 5 am on Sunday on the second floor of the building that did not have fire safety clearance.