Navi Mumbai: The Priyanka Gurav murder case with the Rabale MIDC police has prompted Kalina’s forensic science laboratory (FSL) to go in for a new test: X chromosome linking.
The police had earlier planned to travel to Hyderabad or Delhi for a DNA test, which is not available at Kalina laboratory. Being overloaded with work, the labs denied taking up the case following which Director General (legal and technical) S.P. Yadav of forensic laboratories decided to start the facility for the test at Kalina lab. Maharashtra has forensic laboratories in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad, Nasik, Amravati, Nanded, and Kolhapur.
First time in state
“This is the first time that we are setting up the facility. We had staff but did not have the X chromosome linking kit as it was never needed. Around 200 tests could be conducted with this single kit, which has been ordered from the U.S. India is also experimenting to produce the chemicals needed for this test. If that becomes successful, it will be easier for us to get the kit. Usually for every DNA test, the parents are available for the matching, but this is the first time wherein the victim did not have any relatives apart from siblings for which X chromosome linking is needed. The other common test is identifier test wherein the parent’s samples are used and it has been done here since 2003 along with Y chromosome linking or paternity test, which is usually done in rape cases to match semen. Even X chromosome linking could have been made available early, but there were no cases that demanded this test. Since the samples in the Gurav murder case have been collected, we are awaiting the kit. Once we receive that, the reports will be ready at the earliest,” said Dr. Krishna Kulkarni, Director of Kalina lab. “On an average, we get around 400 to 450 DNA test requests from Mumbai division. Mr. Yadav has made it clear that none of the police officials should ever have to travel out of the state for any test.”
Assistant inspector Amar Jagdale from Rabale MIDC police station said, “We are relieved after knowing that we would not have to travel out of state with the victim’s siblings for the test and later keep doing follow-ups. The kit needed for the test costs around ₹10 lakh and our government sanctioned the amount immediately.”
Two types of DNA test
“We need to run two types of DNA test in this case. The first one is to prove that all three body parts belong to one person for which DNA from all three parts will be matched. The second and the most important test is X chromosome linking, which is to prove that the body belongs to Ms. Gurav for which her DNA has to be matched with that of her brother and sister,” said Mr. Jagdale.
The police have recovered the vehicle used in the disposing of the body parts, the weapon used for chopping the body, clothes worn by the accused during the crime, and all the body parts, from various locations. Five people arrested are Ms. Gurav’s husband Sidhesh (23), an employee of TCS, in-laws Manohar Sitaram Gurav (49), a security worker with the PWD department, and Madhuri (45), along with their friend Durgesh Patwa (25) and his friend Vishal Lalchand Sony (32).