On October 29, Siddirganj police station in Narayanganj recovered an human leg from a bush in the area and sent it to the National DNA Profiling Laboratory at Dhaka Medical College in order to identify who it had belonged to.
The family members of a man, who had gone missing in the area around that time, later gave DNA samples to the lab which matched with the DNA of the recovered leg.
However, since then, the leg has been lying at the DNA lab’s sample archive room. The lab officials had sent several letters to the investigation officer of the Siddhirganj police station, but neither a reply nor personel to collect limb arrived in response.
The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that more than 200 DNA samples (bones, limbs, teeth, clothes, and embryos) placed with the lab in connection with various cases have been left in the archive room although days have passed since the tests were completed.
Most of these samples were sent from various police stations across the country while, in most cases, the concerned police officers reportedly ignored letters from the lab authorities and failed to collect the samples after the completion of the DNA tests. From 2006 to 2013, a total of 2,332 samples have been tested in the laboratory.
With the number of the DNA samples rising each day and only two refrigerators to store the samples in, authorities are reportedly forced to keep many of the samples outside the fridge, causing a bad odour to spread throughout the laboratory.
According to the recently ratified DNA Act 2013, the DNA lab is allowed to destroy any sample six months after the completion of tests. However, for the sake of investigations, samples could be preserved for longer.
Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, head of the DNA profiling laboratory, told the Dhaka Tribune that the lab had to destroy most of the biological (blood, tissue, etc) samples after the completion of DNA tests because a huge number of samples were sent for tests. Bones, clothes and other dry samples were given to an NGO that deal with medical waste disposal, where they were incinerated.
Dr Akteruzzaman said the police stations concerned hardly ever respond to requests to retrieve samples after testing.
However, insiders said the redundant samples should be removed soon because they are hampering the smooth operation of the laboratory and issued foul odours.