Victims’ remains reduced to ashes, DNA profiling now a daunting task
Times of India | 28 January 2026
Kolkata: The forensic team scanning the gutted Pushpanjali Decorators godown for human remains are facing a stiff challenge of sifting through ash and debris to extract bones that can lead to the identity of charred victims. Though 11 charred bodies, mostly skeletal remains, were retrieved from the site, 23 people are still missing. Many among them are feared to have died in the fire.
Forensic experts said intense, prolonged heat can degrade or destroy genetic material, making DNA profiling difficult and identification slow. "Even when remains are recovered, they are often brittle and fragmented, and fragile bones can break or be lost during rescue, handling, or cleaning, reducing the amount of usable evidence," said forensic professor Somnath Das, department head at Bankura Sammilani Medical College.
Investigators must also guard against contamination, as foreign DNA can be introduced unintentionally by rescuers, officials, or the surrounding environment, complicating results and demanding strict protocols.
In many cases, experts rely on more heat-resistant sources such as marrow from long bones and teeth, where enamel can protect the inner pulp, offering the best chance of obtaining reliable DNA. When a DNA test is delayed or inconclusive, methods like superimposition — matching skeletal features with photographs — may be used, though they are less definitive.
For families, each step in this process extends the trauma: a last phone call, a sudden silence, and then the long wait for science to confirm what the heart fears. Anup Pradhan's sister in Pingla, West Midnapore, still clings to the memory of a brief phone call the night before the fire. "My brother spoke to me briefly the night before," said Priyanka Santra, standing outside her home in Maligeria . "The next morning his phone was switched off. Since then, there is only silence."
On Tuesday morning, she was travelling to Kolkata with other family members to give DNA samples, joining relatives of other victims drawn into a painful identification process. Families of two others from Maligeria also arrived in Kolkata after being informed that conventional methods like visual identification, clothing, or personal belongings were no longer possible.
Police officers involved in the rescue operation said the intensity of the fire left little that could be immediately linked to individuals. "When the bodies were brought out, they were completely charred," said a police officer.