Talking to Express Newsline, FSL Director J M Vyas said that the plan to start new FSLs was part of the new police action plan, and there was no question of closing down any of the existing laboratories.

None of the existing laboratories in the state, barring Ahmedabad, had facilities to test all types of cases like murder, rape, explosion etc. Vadodara laboratory is equipped only to analyse liquor samples and petroleum products. ]It does not even have the facility to test blood alcohol to verify whether a person was drunk or not. All such cases are currently referred to Ahmedabad for investigation.

The Vadodara laboratory annually receives 25,000 samples of liquor seized by the police from Kheda, Anand, Dahod, Panchmahals and Vadodara districts as well as Government Railway Police (Western Divison). The only other facility it has is for testing petroleum products like petrol, diesel, and kerosene. When asked about the upgradation of the Vadodara FSL, Vyas said the plan had been hanging fire for lack of space and purchase of equipments. He said equipments could be arranged, but the problem was with where to install them.

Vyas said that the district administration had agreed to allot it space in the Police Bhawan, adjoining Narmada Bhawan, which is under construction. The new departments like serology, ballistics pertaining to firing, bomb and explosive detection, toxicology and lie-detection would be opened once the required space is made available to the laboratory.

After the setting up of new laboratories, experts would themselves go to the spot, collect samples and conduct investigations. At present, the samples are directly sent to Ahmedabad FSL by the police.