Mumbai:
Investigations over J Dey's murder received another heavy blow yesterday, when scientists from the state Forensic Science Lab (FSL) at Kalina admitted that three of the bullets fired at Dey were never recovered from the scene of crime.
This 'loss' may have huge repercussions on the investigation and court proceedings of the case. If retrieved on time, ballistic examination of these bullets could have provided crucial leads and clinching evidence with which to nab Dey's assailants.
FSL scientists claimed that would have traced the bullets if they had been called to the scene of crime at the right time. They cited several, ostensibly feeble reasons for the missing evidence -- the huge time lapse between the crime and the deployment of the forensic team, compounded by the subsequent heavy rainfall, and teeming crowds which thronged the scene.
Dey was killed last Saturday afternoon, by four unidentified bike-borne assailants. While three bullets passed through his left arm, the fourth, fatal shot was fired from the back, and lodged itself in his heart, puncturing the lung and fracturing a rib. This bullet was recovered during the autopsy. The fifth bullet, also fired from the back, passed through the left of his chest.
Preliminary forensic tests have now confirmed that the bullets recovered from Dey's body and the scene of crime, was fired from a .32 revolver. This has been corroborated by examining the bullet entry marks on the raincoat and T-shirt that Dey was wearing during the fatal attack.
Forensic experts, however, have failed to confirm whether or not the first three bullets were from the same weapon, since these were never picked up from the scene of crime to begin with.
Preliminary findings have revealed that the assailants used standard weapons, which may have been imported, or manufactured at the Indian Ordinance Factory in Kanpur. Dr Rukmini Krishnamurthy, former director FSL and presently Technical Advisor, Institute of Forensics Science, State of Maharashtra said, "In all shooting cases, the bullets constitute the most crucial pieces of evidence. Examination of these bullets indicates the number of shooters, and the number of firearms used to perpetrate the crime.
It is the duty of the investigating officers and the forensics scientists to retrieve the bullets, with minimum tampering, and as early as possible." She added, "Crime scene management is of utmost priority for all investigating agencies. This entails barricading the scene crime immediately after it is committed, and barring entry to anyone who is not involved in the investigation. The FBI and most other international agencies give utmost importance to crime scene management, because the timely retrieval of articles can throw light on significant aspects of the crime."
Asked about the reason behind the inordinate delay in roping in FSL scientists for examination of the crime scene, a senior police officer supervising the investigation said, "I will have to check the reason for delay." He clarified that the police had sealed the scene of crime, and were combing it in order to retrieve the bullets.