Jagran correspondent, Agra. Scientists on Monday succeeded in obtaining DNA of 13 samples from 15 people who died in the accident on Yamuna Expressway. 10 have been matched with the blood samples sent by Mathura Police to the relatives who claimed the dead bodies, whereas the DNA of three could not be matched with the blood samples sent to the lab.
Samples of two other bodies are being re-tested to obtain DNA. The lab submitted the DNA matching report of 10 dead bodies to Mathura Police at 9 pm on Monday night. Mathura police will hand over the dead bodies to their relatives as per their identification based on the report on Tuesday.
Nine vehicles caught fire in a horrific accident that took place on the Mathura Expressway at around 4 am on December 16. 19 people had died in the accident. Only one of them could be identified. It was not possible to identify the passengers who were burnt alive due to the fire in the buses. Bones and teeth of unidentified bodies were sent to Agra Forensic Lab. Also, blood samples of 25 people were sent for DNA matching.
Extracting DNA was a challenge for scientists
It was a challenge for the scientists to extract DNA from the bones and teeth of some dead bodies burnt in the fire. The team worked continuously for 160 hours. Of these, it was successful in obtaining DNA from 13 samples. Whereas DNA matching could be done only for 10 people. Of the 25 people whose blood samples were sent by Mathura Police for DNA matching, three dead bodies did not belong to any of them. Mathura Police will collect blood samples of other people who have laid claim on the dead bodies and send them to the lab.
Joint Director of Forensic Lab, Ashok Kumar, submitted the DNA matching report to Mathura Police on Monday night. The team of Baldev police station of Mathura was camping in Agra since December 18. The report by the lab has been given according to the post-mortem number of the dead bodies. On the basis of which, on Tuesday the police will call the relatives and start the process of handing over the dead bodies to them.
DNA could not be found from samples of two dead bodies
The team of scientists could not obtain DNA from the samples of the two bodies that died in the accident. The teeth and bones sent as samples had become like burnt coal in a fire. Which were being shattered as soon as they were taken for testing. These samples are being re-examined.
The machines installed in the DNA unit are worth Rs 15 crores.
The DNA section at Agra Forensic Lab was started in April 2021. The machines used by the team of scientists to extract DNA from samples are worth approximately Rs 15 crore. The kit of chemicals used in testing costs one to two lakh rupees.
Team obtained DNA from samples in 160 hours
Under the direction of Joint Director Agra Forensic Lab Ashok Kumar, the team of scientists obtained DNA from the samples after 160 hours of effort. In this, apart from the state's most experienced DN scientist Anita Pundhir (Deputy Director Ghaziabad Forensic Lab), Pragati Singh (Deputy Director Lucknow Forensic Lab), scientific officers Pawan Kumar and Shashi Shekhar Pandey (Agra) are prominent.