BHUBANESWAR: Odisha does not have a flattering crime conviction rate. And much of it has to do with its poor forensic science manpower. There are not enough scientific personnel but the challenge is new appointees are leaving for greener pastures. The State Police appointed 35 assistant scientific officers a few months back to fill its vacancies. Ten of them quit.
Sources said scientific and assistant scientific officers in Odisha are MSc qualified and usually leave their jobs due to a low pay grade. Compared to States such as Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, officers in the State get much lower salary and choose to join teaching jobs.
Forensic science is a valuable wing when it comes to criminal investigation but Odisha struggles with huge vacancies. There is not just enough scientific manpower to gather and process the evidence.
The inadequacy is affecting investigation of serious cases resulting in low conviction rate in the State. As per National Crime Records Bureau, the State’s conviction rate stood at 11.2 per cent in 2020, second lowest in the country and just above Assam where the figure is 5.4 per cent.
Odisha has one State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), three Regional Forensic Science Laboratories (RFSLs) at Sambalpur, Berhampur and Balasore and 36 district laboratories. However, these forensic science arms are crippled by a 70 per cent vacancy in the posts of scientific officers and 40 per cent in the posts of assistant scientific officers.
There are only 30 scientific officers in SFSL, RFSLs and district units as against the sanctioned strength of 100. Similarly, only 40 assistant scientific officers are in place against the sanctioned strength of 80.
Scientific officers conduct examination of exhibits and clues and prepare the reports. Assistant scientific officers assist examination. There are nine divisions at State SFSL in the Capital City - Ballistics, Biology, Chemistry, Cyber Forensic, DNA, Lie Detection, Physics, Serology and Toxicology.
Sources said, there is only one scientific officer in Lie Detection unit of SFSL and if he goes on leave, the division remains closed on that particular day. Except for districts like Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Sambalpur, no other has scientific officers and are dependent on the assistant scientific officers who are not legally authorised to prepare forensic reports.
“The reports of scientific evidence help investigating officers unravel truth of sensitive cases and prepare a strong prosecution for trial. However, delay in submission of forensic reports is severely affecting investigation, prosecution and the conviction rate,” said sources.
Besides examination and preparation of reports, scientific officers visit crime scenes to collect crucial evidence. However, due to shortage of scientific officers, police personnel are forced to collect evidence and hand them over to SFSL, RFSL and district units.
“Every month, the forensic laboratories receive about 2,000 cases and over 16,000 exhibits for scientific examination. However, the laboratories are able to deliver less than 50 per cent reports per month,” said sources. This means reports of crucial cases get the first priority.
Besides, the dependence on forensic reports related to ballistics, DNA and blood samples has increased significantly over the years for enhanced investigation and conviction of sensitive cases. DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal who reviewed manpower shortage in the forensic laboratories of the State said efforts are on to fill the gap.
“We are taking measures to increase the number of scientific officers in the State. Instead of appointing assistant scientific officers, we are mulling to engage scientific officers as their pay scale is up to the industry standards,” Bansal told TNIE.