Pune cops forget about crucial evidence that could help them crack mysterious cases
Timely examination of viscera in a medico legal case can help the cops nab the real culprits. But in Pune, cops really don’t care much. Several samples of viscera wrapped in plastic bags are found lying around in a corner at Sassoon General Hospital. They are anywhere between a day to six months old. Mind you, these are from the deceased, who according to doctors conducting the autopsies, have died mysteriously. The samples are meant to be rushed to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Mumbai within 24 hours so that real cause of the person’s death can be ascertained.
The plastic bags containing viscera are found lying on the ground floor of the hospital. Some have labels with details of the deceased, while most do not. Authorities at the hospital reveal that if the doctor conducting the autopsy believes that the death is because of poisoning or other mysterious circumstances, viscera are removed. They are packed with common salt, which acts as a preservative, and handed over to cops from respective police stations. Often the cop on duty tends to leave package behind for the investigating officer to take them to Mumbai. In this process, the viscera samples get forgotten or left behind for weeks or months on end. Hospital authorities say this is common with cases from Pune Rural police.
Experts say that there is a 24-hour window for viscera to be transferred to FSL or it is compromised. If viscera are not transferred on time then it rots and is not usable for a forensic test.
In one such case, a cop from Bhigwan police station woke up from his slumber and went to Sassoon Hospital to collect viscera samples of a case which was a few weeks old. Since, he had come after a very long time, authorities at Sassoon could not find viscera related to that particular case. The cop was quick to blame the hospital administration for not storing the viscera samples in a designated room with proper labeling.
The hospital administration however blames the cops for being lax. Sassoon hospital medical superintendent, Dr. Ajay Taware said, “It is not the hospital’s responsibility to take care these viscera. After postmortem, we hand over the samples to Sassoon Police Chowky. It is duty of designated police officer to collect the case related viscera from Sassoon police. But if they do not collect it on time, is not our fault. It’s police duty to collect viscera and send it to the forensic lab for a test. Rural police have always delayed collecting viscera, but Pune police are always on time.”
Situation is no different at YCM Hospital, Pimpri. YCM’s medical superintendent Dr Manoj Deshmukh said, “We have informed rural police many times and also written a letter to SP, but they never replied. We have followed up many times but don’t get any feedback. A year or two ago, we locked the room because the rural police did not come to collect sample. The room stinks and some rats have also eaten some viscera samples.”
Supreme Court Advocate, Ashutosh Shrivastav said, “Viscera is very important evidence to solve any criminal case. There are lots of cases where viscera sample was vital very to solve the case. It is, by protocol, police duty to collect viscera from hospital and submit in forensic lab.”
When TGS contacted Dr Jay Jadhav, Superintendent of Pune Rural police, he said, “I will inquire from police stations as to why do they not collect viscera samples on time. Moreover, hospitals take months to give us reports. That problem needs to be addressed as well.”
gunwanti.paraste@goldensparrow.com
Originally published on The Golden Sparrow
