MUMBAI: With Pakistan denying that the terrorists involved in the 26/11 carnage were its citizens, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken DNA samples of the nine who were killed to match the genome and prove their nationality.
A source in the Mumbai Police confirmed that agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, crime branch, FBI, and Israeli sleuths had taken hair, muscle, bone, blood and tooth samples from the bodies to extract scientific evidence to aid trial.
While DNA sampling is done in India, genome matching is done only in the US and Israel, which have databases of samples from around the world. Such matching can establish a persons origins.
Meanwhile, police plan to bury the corpses at a secure site because a magistrate can order their exhuming if someone claims the samples collected were tampered with. "We can preserve the bodies for 6-8 weeks," a senior police officer said. "After that, they will have to be buried."
