Raj govt scraps DNA test fee for police cases

Rajasthan government has scrapped the DNA test fee in order to expedite investigation into cases of murder, rape and other heinous crimes.
State police till now had to pay Rs 5,000 to the forensic laboratory to get samples tested. The approval for the fee required permission from police headquarters and had to be paid in the form of demand draft, which often consumed time, delaying the probe.
"We have taken this decision to clear pending cases in a timely manner. Samples have to be tested in a maximum of 90 days considering the urgency of the case. State forensic lab will conduct the test free for the police and give its report," state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said today

He was chairing a meeting with officials of the home department and state forensic laboratory.
Sharing pendency cases figures during the meeting, Kataria said 38,578 cases pending till 2015 have been disposed off, while 6,602 cases out of 10,840 cases that were pending during the year 2016 are yet to be solved.
An Advanced Centre for Cyber Forensics at the forensic laboratory should be set up on priority, Kataria said, and urged officials to procure advanced equipment.

"Vacant posts of scientists will soon be filled as recruitment is nearing completion," he said.
Principal secretary (Home), Deepak Upreti said the process to recruit scientists on contract basis for the Polygraph Centre in Jaipur has been completed.

Construction of regional forensic science laboratory in Ajmer and Bikaner is in progress, he said.