Bangladesh Police get FBI’s DNA analysis technology

The DNA laboratory of the Bangladesh Police has received the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s DNA analysis technology to improve its criminal detection capabilities.

“This will allow not just to analyse DNA, but to compare those results with known and unknown samples,” US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat said at the software handover ceremony at the CID office in Dhaka on Thursday.

“Bangladesh is now one of the 51 countries in the world that have this capability through CODIS,” Bernicat said.

The FBI Laboratory’s Combined DNA Index System or CODIS blends forensic science and computer technology into an “effective” tool for solving crimes, she said.

The ambassador, however, urged the police to be “more proactive” to protect the integrity of crime scenes for preventing contamination of samples.

Md Lutfor Rahman Mondal, DIG (Forensic) of the CID, said this will help them “immensely to detect the criminals exclusively.”

“At present the laboratory is working upon the platform of Laboratory Information Management System [LIMS]. It has no database management facilities. So by installing the CODIS, we will be able to establish a database of DNA profiles for future search."

The US government has also trained a group of people to run the software and its related equipment.

Md Saiful Alam, Additional Inspector General, Industrial Police, thanked the US government for the “generous” donation of the technology and said it would be for the first time the police will use “sophisticated” software.

“This will help to offer better investigation services to the people of Bangladesh. It’ll also raise the quality of work of Bangladesh Police,” he said.

Explaining the benefits of the CODIS, the ambassador said this has now taken Bangladesh Police another step towards being linked with the information world.

“CODIS worldwide has been used to solve cases that have remained open pending discovery of new evidence; or commonly known as cold cases,” she said.

“CODIS offers the opportunities to reopen these cases in Bangladesh and arrest those who have, until now, have been able to escape justice.”

But she sounded a note of caution about the way of collecting evidence at the crime scenes, and reminded the Bangladesh Police that “with sophisticated technology comes added responsibilities”.

“CODIS can only examine the evidence that is introduced into the system. We all know that evidence collected at the crime scene must be meticulously collected, carefully preserved, and kept free of contamination.

“Contaminated evidence can have dire consequences – the guilty can go free and, in some cases, an innocent person might be implicated,” Bernicat said, stressing on steps to educate all.

“We all see the images on television and the newspapers where crowds of people, including members of the press, are walking over and through crime scenes.

“The public must be educated to stay clear of crime scenes and to allow the police to process an uncontaminated crime scene.

“The police must take more proactive steps to protect this integrity of crime scenes. The press can help by educating the public of the importance of remaining outside the marked perimeters of crime scenes until after the scene is examined,” she said.

“Otherwise, a case that might have been solved could now become another cold case.”

“This technology, combined with your expertise, can be a major factor in the improvement of the criminal justice system in Bangladesh,” she told the police.

Md Mokhlesur Rahman, Additional Inspector General of police, was also present at the ceremony. Certificate was awarded among those who received the US training to run the new technology.