జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ ఫోరెన్సిక్ రీసెర్చ్

As a contribution to global forest protection international laws and timber regulations are currently enacted, such as the USA Lacey Act, the European Timber regulation (EUTR) and, most recently, the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in Australia. All such regulations prohibit the import and trade of illegally forested wood and wood products. Regarding these new regulations wood traders are required to exercise “due diligence” including the correct declaration and origin of wood species. The identification of the timber is also important for the assessment of product properties (viz. consumer protection) as lower-grade substitute timbers are imported at a distinctly increasing rate. In the context of these new challenges wood anatomy provides the most valuable support for practical wood identification and is routinely applied in the daily control of wood and wood products. Using light microscopic techniques, up to 100 anatomical characters can be used following the internationally standardized IAWA lists of “Microscopic Features for Hardwood and Softwood Identification”. Overall, the microscopic descriptions of about 8,700 taxa of hardwoods are currently available and documented in several computerized databases, e.g., InsideWood or Commercial timbers (Delta-Intkey-System). By using these important references, the Thünen Centre of Competence on the Origin of Timber, Germany has answered more than 1,000 official requests (including approx. 5,000 specimens) for microscopic wood identification since the implementation of the EUTR in Germany (March 2013).

Identification of the fauna collected from and around the corpse is an absolutely vital prerequisite for the estimation of post mortem interval(PMI) in the field of forensic entomology. Morphological identification of flesh flies (Diptera; Sarcophagidae) can be perplexing due similar attributes of the species. So, to simplify the identification method, amplification of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene is often tried. We illustrate the use of 450 bp fragment of COI gene for differentiation of ten forensically significant species of flesh flies in India. The outcome displays the robustness of COI gene as a diagnostic marker, since its nucleotide variability endows reliable distinction to be drawn between species. Four new COI gene sequences have been added to GenBank which may be of interest for correct species identification for future workers.

Rhino horn is hard, elongated, conical structure composed entirely of keratin but lacking bony core. Illegal trade of rhino horn has high financial rewards. Both genuine and fake horns are confiscated by authorities and sent for identification. Various morphological and microscopic features of 214 genuine horns of one horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) stored at Armed Forest Protection Training Centre, Tikauli and Office of the Chitwan National Park, Kasara, Nepal were studied. The studied morphological parameters were color, surface texture, height, mass, basal circumference, frontal groove, basal elevation, porosity, light penetration capability at the base and density. Similarly, microscopic features like shape, size and frequency of filamentous units, Interfilamentous space, ratio of medulla and filamentous unit and laminae were studied after thin transverse sections made from the tip of 140 genuine horns. Some of these features were compared with that of 65 fake horns which were received in the laboratory and identified as fake samples. The distinctive filamentous units were observed in all studied genuine rhino horns with varied number, shape and sizes. Based on this study, identifying features of genuine rhino horns were properly established. The study also reveals the possibility of approximation of maturity of rhino horns.

Fire is one of the fundamental element of world and indispensable object of human existence, but some times it becomes life annihilator and most ferocious element if raged by some mistake or omission which can throw away thousands of lives of human beings along with the billions in term of the wealth and property. The manuscript analyzes a similar fire incident that occurred in a factory at Nimrana City, Alwar (Rajasthan) on 29th October 2007 (FIR no. 288/09 dt. 30-10-09 U/s 285, 336 IPC) in which volatile and inflammable chemicals were used as raw material. Safety precautions should be followed as per SOP in presence of volatile and inflammable chemicals but long term and accustomed laborer become adept in bypassing the safety precautions and invent shortcuts for routine works which can result into this kind of havoc.

Through this paper, the authors have tried to explain the data related to case, this report help in reconstruction the dynamics of the accident by means of a dedication to determine the underlying cause of fire in the factory. It might help to explain the importance of spot visit and estimate the dense and depth of the fire investigation for forensic community. We have also suggested methodology to investigate cases related to fire/arson.