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KARACHI, Sept 15: The Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory, commonly known as the office of the Chemical Examiner, which is the sole facility serving the forensic needs of Sindh and Balochistan, is facing a severe backlog of analysis reports which is causing prolonged delays in the investigation and disposal of criminal cases, Dawn has learnt.
Established 60 years ago, the lab has seldom been headed by a toxicologist. Due to the lack of human resources and technical support, it often fulfils formalities by issuing reports that are later challenged and found insubstantial when the tests are retaken in private sector labs. For example, former chemical examiner Dr Zahid Husain was sent on leave after the initiation of an inquiry when a negative report issued by the Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory concerning a banned substance seized from Mirpurkhas was overturned by subsequent retesting of the sample in the Punjab.
Furthermore, the Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory does not offer several essential tests, a shortcoming that could lead to miscarriages of justice and delays in investigation. A case in point is that of Kafila Siddiqui, a Canadian national found dead under mysterious circumstances in Islamabad. Professor Ghulam Ali, the head of the department of forensic medicine in Sindh Medical College, pointed out that it took the lab well over a month to release the chemical reports pertinent to the case.
Similarly, the chemical reports in the death a month ago of a newly-married couple were issued just a couple of days ago. According to SPO Azizabad, Ejaz Hashmi, the investigation had stalled during the interim period while the police waited for the reports that would specify the cause of death and narrow the possibilities.
Housed on the premises of the Services Hospital, the Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory betrays all the hallmarks of a lethargic government office. Some important tests, including blood grouping through semen samples and quantitative tests, are not carried out. For example, the lab establishes the presence of benzodiazepine but does not determine the quantity in which it is present. “This can complicate an investigation since a small dose of the substance may have been consumed as medicine,” contends a senior forensic expert. “No purpose is served until the quantity is determined.” Belonging to the category of psychoactive drugs, benzodiazepines are highly addictive and are a component in common tranquilisers. However, the ingestion of large quantities of the substance can lead to temporary amnesia, coma or death, and there are recorded instances where the substance has been used as a murder weapon, or to subdue victims in crimes ranging from rape to robbery.
Similarly, the lab cannot give a sperm count but can issue reports citing negative or positive semen detection.
Limited facilities
The lab’s limitations can be gauged from the fact that it lacks the capability to test for anthrax. When the city was in the grip of an anthrax scare some time ago, all the samples from a collection centre set up in the Civil Hospital Karachi had to be sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.
The Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory has nine sections: two pertaining to narcotics, and a section each for alcohol, poison, sexual assault, semen, food & medicine, microbiology and blood & serology. The only lab covering two provinces does not have the capacity to test for DNA profiles, or gas and liquid chromatography. Histopathology cases are referred to the Department of Pathology, Dow Medical College.
While Quetta has a narcotics testing lab, all other cases – including sexual assault – that occur in any part of Balochistan are brought to the Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory in Karachi. This, despite the fact that particularly in cases of sexual assault, the time factor is of prime significance. In a 2005 rape case, Dr Shazia Khalid was brought to Karachi for a medical examination over a week after the crime was committed. Subsequently, clinical findings gave a negative report although three doctors confirmed assault after examining the victim’s external injuries.
The Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory is not equipped with an auto-analyser, considered a prerequisite for even an ordinary lab these days. A visit revealed that bottles containing the backlog of viscera samples are being kept under the sun, although procedure dictates that they be disposed of within two to three weeks.
According to a lab official, “in our reports we instruct that the case property be collected within 15 days, after which we seek help from the Edhi Foundation and the samples are finally buried at the Edhi graveyard.”
While the public complains that reports are often issued months after samples were submitted, lab officials claim that backlog problem has been rectified. Nonetheless, delays continue.
Dr Bashir Shaikh, a former chemical examiner who is currently posted as the police surgeon, defended the lab’s performance by pointing out that it lacks human resources and covers all of Balochistan and Sindh. But a senior forensic expert likened the post of the chemical examiner to that of a station house officer.
According to a senior doctor, CHK’s pathology department and clinical lab, and the Chemico-Bacteriological Laboratory should ideally work in coordination since the three entities are interlinked.
