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KARACHI, Dec 12: Despite the fact that family members of people missing since the Oct 18 Karsaz blasts submitted blood samples to the police a fortnight ago, the police have not yet sent the samples on to the relevant laboratory for matching these DNA samples with those obtained from unidentified body parts found at the site, Dawn has learnt.
Investigations conducted by Dawn revealed that at least five people from different families, whose relatives have been missing since the night of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming, deposited blood samples with the police 14 days ago.
However, these samples have not yet reached the Dr A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at the University of Karachi.
Therefore, the planned exercise of comparing their DNA with samples obtained from the scene of the blasts has not yet been undertaken, and it is still unconfirmed whether the untraced people died on
Oct 18.
The lackadaisical attitude of the police now raises the issue of the quality of the two-week-old blood samples.
“We have reminded the police authorities about this situation but have so far not received a single sample, so no results have been reached,” a senior laboratory official told Dawn.
He conceded that if the DNA profiles were not matched with the family members of the missing people, there would be little point in having conducted the tests in the first place.
Amongst those who deposited syringes containing blood samples at the Aziz Bhatti police station — as directed by investigation officials — are the elder brothers of youngsters Bilal Saadi and Rizwan Awan, who have been missing since the night of Oct 18. Both men, who are desperate for news, were told that they would be informed once their blood samples had been matched with DNA profiles obtained from the remains of the Oct 18 victims.
“It has been 12 or 13 days since I gave the police my blood sample,” said Farooq Awan, the elder brother of the missing Rizwan. “We were promised that we would get a call from the police when the process was completed and since then, the whole family has been waiting anxiously for any news, good or bad.”
Farooq’s family and other families in the same predicament have been waiting for two weeks, expecting a call from the police any day, in ignorance of the fact that the Aziz Bhatti police station has not sent the samples to the laboratory.
Families await closure
A senior police official confirmed that blood samples of members of the missing persons’ families had been kept at the Aziz Bhatti police station “with all due care” but could not provide a convincing explanation as to why those syringes had not yet been sent to the laboratory. Requesting anonymity, he told Dawn that “we have actually been waiting for more samples so that we could submit them all at a time. Furthermore, we need funds to have the tests conducted or have the DNA profiles matched.”
Informed by Dawn that in case of the Oct 18 victims, the Dr A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering announced that the comparison of DNA samples would be conducted free of cost, the police official declined to give any comments on where the funds desired by the department in this regard may be used.
“Our institute has prepared profiles from up to 30 DNA samples collected from unidentified remains found at the scene of the bomb blasts,” said Dr Syed Qasim Mehdi, the director-general of the Dr A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. “We have offered such services in the past and this time, too, we put in our best efforts and did not charge any fee for these tests, which cost thousands of dollars to carry out.”
He pointed out that blood samples were required to be stored under specific conditions and needed to be matched with the DNA profiles as early as possible, before the samples started to decompose or break down.
While the police have not yet submitted the collected samples to the institute, the relatives of people suspected to have been killed in the Karsaz blasts told Dawn that the process of submitting the samples was no easy task either.
It took 60-year-old Shabbir Hussain Shah nearly a week to submit a blood sample to the Aziz Bhatti police station as part of his efforts to trace his 29-year-old son, Zaheer Hussain Shah. The shattered parent came to the city from Sargodha in order to help official investigators and the PPP leadership trace his son, who had been amongst the thousands gathered to welcome Ms Bhutto on Oct 18. His visit has proved a hectic exercise, however, and there remains but a small chance of his finding out conclusively whether his son is dead or alive.
“The police have not been cooperative so far,” said Habib Jan, a PPP leader who has been assigned to coordinate with the police and the families of people missing since the blasts. “We traced some of the missing people in different cities, many of whom were in severe shock and remain traumatised. But not a single person was traced by the police.”
According to Mr Jan, between 17 and 20 people remain untraced and matching their relatives blood samples with the DNA profiles of remains recovered from the scene of the tragedy could have brought closure for their families.
Mr. Jan’s comments echo the desperation of Bilal Saadi’s family, which has been searching for him since Oct 18. His mother, who has been severely emotionally affected by the grief, still hopes that Bilal may be found alive but his elder brother, Saeed, has lost hope and now desires merely the confirmation of Bilal’s death. “I have been exhausted by the search for Bilal, and the attendant trauma,” he told Dawn. “Sometimes I think I have merely been running after a mirage since that night. I just want my blood compared with the DNA profiles as early as possible.”
