Mumbai: A forensic expert today (Oct 20, 2004) told a special court that no residue of any petroleum or hydrocarbon product was found on the samples collected from the site of Best Bakery carnage.

N V Champaneria, the assistant Director at Forensic Science Laboratory at Vadodara, said the exhibits collected from the carnage site failed to show residue of any petroleum product following the chemical tests.

He, however, said the absence of petroleum residue in the exhibits could have been due to several factors including the possibility that the samples may not have been collected from the correct places.

Champaneria added that the tests had failed to show hydrocarbon presence also due to the possible reasons of destruction of residue or spraying of water over it.

Later, replying to a cross-examination question, he said that the tests were negative as petroleum product may not have been used at all.

Champaneria and his assistants had conducted two kinds of test on the samples and had given their report to the Vadodara police.

Earlier, the Defence lawyers continued their cross-examination of Dr S S Syed, the anatomy expert who had conducted tests on the bones found from the site. It was the longest cross-examination and the witness stood in box for over six hours.