Unable to bear constant allegations of having stolen jewellery from her in-laws’ house, the daughter-in-law of a retired senior police officer offered to undergo a polygraph test at Truth Labs. A series of tests established that she was innocent and this finally put an end to the longstanding family dispute.
The Delhi unit of Truth Labs, the country’s first private forensic investigation laboratory, has received 75 cases within 100 days of its establishment and in several instances serious family disputes have been amicably resolved on revelation of the truth. The beneficiaries include individuals, the Delhi Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation, banks and financial institutions, and business and corporate houses.
Thirty of these cases pertain to questioned documents, 30 relate to lie-detector tests, two to fingerprint analysis, two to medico-legal examination, two others to cyber forensic tests, two more to audio-video authentication, one relates to failure analysis, three are about DNA analysis and one case is of crime scene examination.
“About 20 cases were related to forgery of documents involving valuable properties in prime localities. In almost all the cases referred by banks and financial institutions, where the documents were pledged to avail of loans, Truth Labs found that the papers were forged and in some cases the culprits were also identified,” said its founder-chairman K.P.C. Gandhi here on Saturday.
Dr. Gandhi said the Delhi police, who have issued a circular stating that cases can be sent to Truth Labs, had also forwarded some cases seeking examination. He said in several cases, including those referred by the CBI, Truth Labs found that the land and revenue documents submitted by fictitious land owners, who were paid compensation by government agencies for land acquisition, had been forged.
“A leading industrialist having a bungalow in Greater Kailash reported theft of precious jewellery. As he suspected an insider hand and did not want to involve the police, he contacted Truth Labs, whose crime scene team visited the spot and found fingerprints and within two hours the suspect was identified,” said Dr. Gandhi, adding that Truth Labs is a non-profit institution that promises prompt, effective and quality reports at an affordable price.
The average cost of getting a case investigated through the lab is about Rs.5,000 and every kind of report is made available within a week.
The Hyderabad unit of Truth Labs has received over 600 cases so far, a large number of them having been referred by courts and the police. “We also provide free-of-cost services to poor victims,” he added.
Dr. Gandhi said Truth Labs, which has roped in a group of honest and dedicated forensic scientists retired from Central and State forensic science laboratories, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bureau of Police Research and Development, the Union Home Ministry, the University of Hyderabad, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and other agencies. In October, it signed an MoU with National Law School of India University, Bangalore, for conducting a series of cyber crime courses from 2010.
“In a few months, we are also setting up offices in Chennai and Bangalore,” he added.
Headed by S. R. Singh, former Director of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of the CBI, the organisation has its Delhi branch office at NBCC Tower in Bhikaji Cama Place.
