FORENSIC SCIENCE LABORATORY

The legacy

The first Forensic Science Laboratory in India came into existence at Calcutta for the State of West Bengal on 1st July 1952. It was a brain-child of the great visionary Dr B. C. Roy, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal. The laboratory started functioning under the able guidance of Dr. N. K. Sen as Director, State Forensic Science Laboratory. The medico-legal section of Chemical Examiner's Department was transferred to this laboratory.

The laboratory was housed in the building situated within the campus of Calcutta Medical College for performing biological and toxicological tests as a part of medico-legal examinations. A small unit of Physics was added in 1955 and became fully functional in

1957. In the same year, Foot Print and Note Forgery Section of CID, West Bengal was transferred to this laboratory. In 1971, the laboratory functioning from Calcutta Medical College was shifted to its present location at Belgachia, Kolkata-37. The General Chemistry Section of Chemical Examiner's Department was also shifted to this new laboratory. In 1973, Ballistics Section was created and Questioned Documents Bureau, West Bengal was also transferred to newly built laboratory.

The laboratory once used to undertake examination of cases from Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Manipur, Tripura, Assam and other states in addition to all the internal cases of the state of West Bengal. To extend the forensic facilities to the remote corner and to ease the work load of Headquarter, a Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) was set up in 1987 at Jalpaiguri to cater the cases of North Bengal and the border districts. State Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of West Bengal since its inception in 1952, is performing its duty with a view to achieving scientific excellence. The Laboratory is crafted with a large number of Forensic Experts having excellent academic, scientific and research skills in Forensic Science. To keep the pace with the modern crime pattern, a number of sophisticated instruments such as HPLC, HPTLC, GC, UV-VIS, FTIR, ASE, AAS, VSC etc have been installed. The Laboratory is organizing training programs, seminars, conferences etc on a regular basis. The laboratory has recently initiated the process to achieve NABL accreditation.