BY AMRESH PARAB | NT
PANAJI: In a bid to expedite the process of record fingerprints from a crime scene, the Goa police through its experts have trained their policemen.
At least three to four policemen in each police station in the state have been imparted basic training in developing and lifting latent fingerprints by fingerprint experts of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Verna.
The trained policemen will also assist the fingerprint experts in serious crime cases by identifying and preserving fingerprints.
“The policemen at each police station are trained and equipped to develop and lift fingerprints from the crime scene, inspector-general of police Sunil Garg said.
The FSL, fingerprints division of the Goa police, has a data base of around 35000 fingerprints.
“The idea behind (imparting) the basic training was to obtain fingerprints from the crime scene as fast as possible as by the time fingerprint experts reach the crime scene it takes at least a couple of hours,” Garg said.
He said the policemen trained in taking fingerprints will also assist the experts in major crime cases. The policemen will detect and preserve the evidence till the experts reach the crime scene.
The Goa police department is in the process of making the Goa FSL fully functional which currently houses only the fingerprint experts division. The state police have to send physical evidence gathered during an investigation to forensic science laboratories outside the state for scientific evaluation, which often takes time.