GUJRAT: Norwegian ambassador Cecilie Landsverk on Friday inaugurated a modern crime scene unit of the Gujrat police at a ceremony at the Police Lines.

The project is part of the Norwegian government assistance through provision of modern gadgets to collect evidence from the crime scene. It has also provided Rs5 million through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in the first phase of the project and pledges more funds for the second phase.

District Police Officer Rai Ijaz Ahmad said 40,000 Pakistani expatriates, around 30,000 of them belonging to Gujrat, had been settled in Norway for the last more than four decades and the Norwegian government always took keen interest in the issues related to the Pakistani community since these expatriates had played a key role in the uplift of its economy.

“There has been a close liaison between the Gujrat and Norwegian police for the last two decades as many crime-relating issues of the Norwegian Pakistanis lead to an interaction between the two,” he said.

The building has a training hall equipped with computers, multimedia for e-learning of investigation officers, four air-conditioners and furniture. Twenty-one investigation kits each having a camera, a tape recorder, gloves for collecting fingerprints and DNA have been provided. Also part of the paraphernalia are 200 first-responder kits each having a cordon tape, a torch, gloves, a bag and a belt.

Ms Cecilie and UNODC country head Cecar Guedes handed over the gadgets to the police.

The Norwegian ambassador said the Gujrat police would be able to better preserve the forensic evidence collected from the crime scene. She also pledged all-out support for the Pakistani community settled in Norway.

The DPO commended the cooperation of the Norwegian government and officials of its embassy in Islamabad and sought further support. He asked the Norwegian ambassador to help them establish a separate women police station in Gujrat.

It is learnt that a modern vehicle for the crime scene unit, besides the latest equipment for tracing and collection of telephone calls’ data, has been acquired for the second phase of the CSU.

Published in Dawn, May 31th, 2014