Did police trample over key evidence?

Onlookers claim authorities have not followed correct procedure while collecting clues, sweeping the blast sites clean, impounding cars'Won't they ever learn?' is the question Mumbaikars are asking security officials and the government after serial blasts shook the city yesterday. According to on the spot analysis and preliminary investigations, the police have committed the same mistake they did during the German Bakery blasts, Pune in 2010.An official at Kabutar Khana, Dadar, collects evidencefrom the crime sceneReaching ground zero at Zaveri Bazaar, 45 minutes after the explosion took place, observers said cops cleared the area and cleaned up the site thinking it to be a cylinder blast, similar to the way they swept the crime scene in the Pune blasts.Fire brigade and police officials reached the spot 45 minutes late during which locals had already rushed in to help the injured and the dying. After reaching the scene of the crime, authorities cordoned off the area.u00a0First, the rain acted as a spoiler due to which we were not able to collect the materials used in the blast and above that the fire brigade played spoilsport cleaning the blast site. The site was only supposed to get cleaned once the forensic team completes their work but fire brigade officials cleaned the place before the forensic team could reach the site, said a senior crime branch official.Showing further inattention, cops also towed away the cars, which were present both at Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar, which some officials say could prove to hamper investigations in the future.According to a forensic expert, the police committed the same blunder Pune officials had made while investigating the German Bakery blasts in 2010. On February 13, the police and emergency services were called when a blast had ripped the well-known hangout. Initial reports had suggested it was a cylinder blast.However, by the time cops finished cordoning off the area, they realised it was a terror attack. Unfortunately, by then the floor of the bakery was flooded with water, washing away all-important evidence. The right wayOn anonymity, a police official explained to MiD DAY the correct procedure of collecting evidence at blast sites. The police must first secure the blast site and cover it with plastic to protect evidence being damaged because of the rains. Then, they should wait for the forensic team to arrive and collect their samples. Ideally, all things should be left as they are including vehicles till all samples are taken.AutopsiesPolice Surgeon SM Patil said autopsies would be conducted on the bodies of the 21 victims and that relatives would face no hardship in claiming the bodies. According to Patil, the team of forensic surgeons would conduct the autopsies at the JJ post-mortem centre.Our support staff is also on standby and we are equipped to handle all the 21 cases if they are sent to JJ. The possibility of bodies being sent to the post-mortem centres at Nair and Sion hospitals cannot be ruled out at this stage, but we haven't received a single body yet. The post-mortem will begin as soon as possible, he said.