Uncertainty remains on whether DNA identification would be possible for the 21 unidentified bodies that were recovered from the Padma River following the capsizing of the Pinak 6 launch near the Mawa Ferry Terminal earlier this month.
The local police have yet to send the necessary DNA samples to either the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) DNA laboratory or the National DNA Profiling Laboratory at the DMCH.
Sources said senior officials of Madaripur district police have been planning to the send the DNA samples to the CID, but the CID authorities told them that the backlog of other DNA tests at the lab meant that it would take at least 45 days before any new test from the launch capsize victims was possible.
When asked about the issue, Fariduddin Ahmed, superintendent of police at Madaripur, admitted that the process had to be put on hold because of the busy schedule at CID’s DNA lab. All the DNA samples of the 21 unidentified bodies were now being kept “safely” at the Shibchar police station in the district, he added.
Earlier, during the search operation for the capsized launch, Fariduddin said the police would send the collected DNA samples to the lab once the search came to an end.
“We had collected DNA samples of the bodies that may be used in the future if any relative approaches us. Teeth, nails and tissues of the unidentified bodies were collected,” he had told the Dhaka Tribune, adding that each grave of the unidentified people had been marked with separate numbers in order to easily match and identify the bodies following DNA tests.
On August 11, authorities called off the eight-day operation in search of Pinak 6, which sank in the Padma with 300 passengers, after having failed to even locate the position of the launch.
The number of missing people stood at 62 on final count; of the rescued bodies, all but 21 unidentified victims were handed over to their families. The bodies of the unidentified were buried at Madaripur in marked graves.
Sources in Madaripur police said no relative of the missing victims had approached authorities over the past two weeks to inquire about the DNA identification process. The DNA samples of the victims’ relatives would also be required to cross-match the unidentified bodies, they added.
The DNA samples would reportedly not be sent to the National DNA Profiling Lab, which is better equipped than the CID lab.
