Haryana Cops Use Interpol's Format To Identify Man Found Dead In Croatia

In a first, the Haryana Police have identified a Kurukshetra man whose body was found in Croatia through DNA matching using the Interpol's standardised digital format, officials said on Saturday.

The body was identified as that of Parminder Singh, they said. In a statement, the police said this is the first time that a case of DNA matching has been done using Interpol's standardized digital format.

Initially, the Haryana Police had sent a physical DNA sample which could not be sent through the Interpol channels.

Later, the digital format of the DNA profile was collected by the Haryana Police from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, which was then transmitted to Croatia using Interpol channels on the same day, police said.

Kurukshetra resident Paramjeet Kaur had lodged a complaint, saying her son Parminder wanted to go to Italy but had instead reached Serbia, police said.

She later came to know that an unidentified body had been found in Croatia, which she suspected to be that of her son, they said.

The complainant expressed apprehension that her son may have been killed for money. Based on the complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections including Section 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC at Pehowa Police Station in April, 2022.

A case was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by relatives of Parminder for identification of his body in Croatia.

In compliance with the November 2022 High Court order, the DNA sample of Paramjeet Kaur was sent by the Kurukshetra Police to the CFSL in Chandigarh for DNA profiling, it said.

After completing all the formalities, along with the submission of DNA profile of Paramjeet Kaur, communication was established with the Union Home Ministry, said police.

The Central Bureau of Investigation-International Police Cooperation Unit (CBI-IPCU) filed a status report in the High Court, detailing the communication made with NCB (National Central Bureau) - Zagreb (Croatia) and the steps being taken to identify the subject, the statement said.

The CBI had shared the digital DNA format of Interpol with Haryana Police and obtained a digital DNA format of the blood relative Paramjeet Kaur, the statement said.

The DNA sequence was mailed by NCB-New Delhi to NCB Zagreb (Croatia), police said.

It was matched by Croatian authorities and a positive identification was given on February 13, it said, adding that the information was given to Haryana Police and also to the family members of the man, the statement said.

The NCB - Zagreb (Croatia) informed about the positive identification of the dead body as that of Parminder Singh based on digital DNA profiling, it said.

Though the body has already been buried by the Croatian authorities, the family members will now proceed to claim the body with the assistance of the Government of India, it said.

In this case, the police did not resort to lengthy procedures like MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) or LR (Letter Rogatory) in DNA investigation, officials said.

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