National Forensic Lab underutilized

KATHMANDU, March 19: Despite being the most sophisticated forensic laboratory of the country, the National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) has not conducted any biological test in 10 years.

The sole reason for this is lack of coordination with the police that does not send samples to the lab for biological tests. Every year, police has to solve hundreds of suspected crimes for which forensic tests can be valuable. Biological test is considered important in crime investigation.


The Nepal Police Science Laboratory (NPSL), owned and run by the police, is not well-equipped to conduct the entire range of biological tests.

While NFSL does not get samples for test, many samples lie unexamined at the NPSL for decades.

"Viscera and blood samples taken from dead bodies 10 years before are yet to be analyzed," Dr Harihar Osti, chief of NPSL said, adding, "We don´t have facility to conduct all sorts of tests on them."

According to Dr Osti, the NPSL has asked the police to either provide necessary equipment or let them dispose the samples piled up at the NPSL´s mortuary department.

Viscera test helps determine the accurate cause of death. Doctors take out the viscera and blood sample from the dead body for further tests when they doubt post mortem report.

"Failure to conduct biological tests has left hundreds of cases unsolved, and the relatives of the dead are still waiting for the report," Dr Osti said.

The NPSL lacks the capability to detect the level of toxin in viscera. It cannot even test the level of alcohol in blood samples. "Police frequently bring dead bodies of drivers to confirm whether they had consumed alcohol at the time of accident," said Dr Osti. But the lab cannot ascertain that.

On the other hand, Jeevan Rijal, a scientist with NFSL that has the wherewithal to conduct sophisticated tests, confirmed that the lab does not get samples to conduct biological tests. The NFSL even has a facility to conduct DNA test. But due to the lack of act and protocol, the NFSL is not in a position to conduct such tests. "We acquired the technology to conduct DNA test a year ago but the government has not allowed us to conduct the test," Rijal said.

He added that NFSL is capable of conducting tests on hair and semen samples, among others. But the lab never gets samples from the police and is making use of its expertize conducting tests on animal samples sent by Department of Wildlife and Nature Conservation.

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