Surat cops bungle on car bombs

SURAT: In an embarrassing gaffe, Surat police failed to take fingerprints from the two Wagon Rs even two days after the cars were found from two different parts of the city. They would be starting the exercise on Tuesday morning.
Instead of bringing in forensic experts as soon as the cars were found on Sunday, it was a battalion of the bomb disposal squad and dog squad along with local police officials who had a free run of the cars.Sources said it was practically impossible for experts to lift any fingerprints now.
The first black Wagon R was found abandoned near Puna Gaam general hospital at 11 am on Sunday. The second car, a red Wagon R, was found at around 6 pm the same day. But it was only on Monday afternoon that the cars were taken to the FSL laboratory in Falsawadi in the city.
Experts say they are not only looking for fingerprints, but also saliva and hair strands inside the car. Senior police officials who refused to comment on the issue, argue that even if fingerprints or saliva had been collected, it was unlikely that it would have provided any clues, as the culprits were likely to be first-timers and the police would not have any record of them.
"We just opened the cars, took out every possible thing with our bare hands, which obviously means our fingerprints would be all over the place," admitted an official who was present at the spot and part of the team which defused the bombs in the second car found at Heerabaugh.
"I don't see much hope as far as fingerprints or biological evidence are concerned since both vehicles have been 'thoroughly fiddled with' by the police. Their intention might be to avert a tragedy, but in the process, we have lost vital clues in the investigation. We are going to start a detailed examination of the vehicles from Tuesday," said an investigator at Surat FSL.
hitarth.pandya@timesgroup.com