GUWAHATI, May 17 � Assam Police may opt for lie detector/narco-analysis test of Dr Dipmoni Saikia, the prime accused in the Dr Sarita Toshniwal murder case.
A senior Assam Police official told The Assam Tribune that investigators would plead for lie-detector or narco-analysis tests if the accused does not confess to the crime. It is to be noted that to conduct a narco-test, consent of the accused is a must.
Already tissue samples (skin/blood) collected from the victim�s nail/fingers have been sent to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory (Guwahati), and the DNA profiling of the samples collected is being done by experts.
Director of Forensic Science Laboratory (Guwahati), Dr RN Khaund, when contacted, confirmed that samples collected from the victims� fingers along with exhibits collected from the body of the ward boy Kiru Mech have been received. �After DNA profiling, both the samples will be matched,� Khaund told this reporter.
Police had reportedly video-graphed the statements of Kiru Mech in the presence of an Additional District Magistrate.
A section of legal experts claim that a confession made before an executive magistrate under Sec 26 of the Evidence Act is not a valid piece of evidence because of the law laid down in the State Vs Anupam Das case wherein the death sentence of Anupam Das was commuted to life imprisonment and the same has been reported in 2007 (3) Gauhati Law Times.
�As investigation is in the nascent stage, hence it would not be prudent on anybody�s part to comment on the police investigation so that the police remains focused only on proper and scientific investigation,� advocate Bijon Mahajan said.
Advocate Ziaur Kamar (public prosecutor of the Gauhati High Court), while throwing light on the implications of the high-profile case, said, �The confession statement has a value in the eye of law and it can be used against the other accused person only if two conditions of the Indian Evidence Act are fulfilled.
�First, the co-accused should have been charged in the same case along with the confessor accused and secondly, the co-accused (Dr Dipmoni in this case) should be tried together with the confessor accused in the same case,� he said.
Also Section 10 of the Act states, �There is the existence of reasonable ground to believe that conspirators have conspired together to commit the offence and if this condition is satisfied and there are some prima facie evidences to show that there was a criminal conspiracy, then it can be acted upon.�
