Hyderabad: One of the three victims in the Deccan Sportswear blaze in January has been identified as Shoukath Ali Chand alias Junaid, a guest worker from Gujarat. His DNA samples collected from some remains in the wrecked building matched with that of his family members.
Forensic teams could not locate the remains of other two workers — said to be Wasim and Jahed — who were reportedly caught in the fire that brought down the multi-storeyed structure.
Around 48 hours after the fire broke out in the building on January 20, the Hyderabad Clues team police entered the building and noticed body parts under the debris. They collected samples from the thigh region.
Samples from the family members of the three workers were also collected for DNA matching.
The remains were handed over to the family members of the three missing workers. The final rites were performed jointly, as it was not known to whom the remains belonged.
After obtaining the forensics report, the police informed Junaid’s family of his death.
In an effort to identify the other two persons believed dead, samples of debris from around 50 spots in the building were collected and sent for forensic analysis.
“If body fluids or biological traces are found in the debris samples, there are chances of extracting DNA from them for profiling and matching with other two families,” officials said.
Building owner Mohd Owaisi, who is the accused in the case, got a stay on his arrest from the High Court. Police have also moved the High Court seeking to vacate the stay on the arrest for further investigation.
