Exclusive: After Air India tragedy, same Indian forensic team battles Nepal flood toll

The task involves collecting biological samples from the deceased and loved ones, leveraging advanced DNA technology for identification. A 19-member team of DNA experts from India has begun a painstaking task of collecting, preserving and analysing biological samples to identify hundreds of victims of the devastating flash floods in Nepal, and ultimately helping authorities in returning the bodies to their family members.A man walks past damaged houses following flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district. (AFP)Divided into six teams, the Indian delegation for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) comprises 10 experts from the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) in Gandhinagar and nine from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) in Delhi.On Monday, the teams, led by Bhargav Patel, head of the Centre of Excellence in DNA Forensics at NFSU, in coordination with experts from Nepal Police’s Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Kathmandu and the Forensics Department of the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, started collecting biological samples from the bodies — mostly mutilated — as well as from people searching their loved ones.Deep DiveAlso Read | After Nepal floods, the Himalayan glaciers on India’s risk list — and the ones that aren’t“The Indian team has been deployed to support Nepal in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) — a process that involves documenting bodies and body parts, assigning identification numbers, collecting appropriate biological samples and eventually helping authorities reunite remains with relatives,” Dr SO Junare, campus director of NFSU, told HT.The larger objective, Junare added, is to help the authorities in Nepal “with identification and ensure that victims receive a dignified final farewell.”The Indian experts sent to Nepal were also part of the forensic scientists’ team that helped in identifying the victims of the Air India Flight 171 crash near Ahmedabad airport last year.Yog Bahadur Pal, a senior Nepal Police officer, said that more than 600 bodies remained unidentified after the August 26 tragedy. “We have collected DNA samples from their teeth, thigh bones, fingerprints, and other specific body parts. We are using a software called Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which is administered by the FBI as well,” Pal said, adding that along with the health department, police have already created a large database of DNA evidence collected from the victims.Also Read | Ice-rock avalanche triggered flash floods, not GLOF event: What Nepalese scientists' report revealsArjun Subedi, a Nepalese home ministry official, said they are coordinating with various embassies seeking assistance in the victim identification process.“The victims are from different parts of the world. We have written to all embassies offering to take medical records that they send us on email too. It may be difficult for them to travel to Nepal immediately. They can give the blood samples in the hospitals back home and then email us the records through their embassy and we will match it with our records,” Subedi said.Prawesh Lama, an Associate Editor at Hindustan Times with nearly two decades of frontline reporting experience across India’s conflict zones, border regions, and disaster-hit areas. He writes on internal security, insurgency, the Northeast, and Left-wing extremism and has reported from India’s hinterland and some of the most sensitive and strategically critical regions.Read MoreNeeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read MoreNepalDnaDna TestFlash FloodGet the latest World News, breaking headlines and global updates from the US, UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and other countries. Follow major international events on Hindustan Times.