The regional forensic laboratories were to be set up in Jammu and Kashmir state with the help of funding from the Central Government, official sources informed.

The state government had planned to upgrade the existing forensic lab at Jammu, besides establishing two regional forensic laboratories, one each at Jammu and Srinagar, the winter and the summer capitals of the state respectively.

Moreover, district level forensic laboratories had also been planned to be set up, official sources informed.

A detailed proposal in this connection had been worked out by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, sources stated adding that the proposal for setting up the forensic laboratories had been submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.

The proposal had been worked out and submitted to the MHA in 2007, sources informed adding that the central government had also agreed to fund the forensic laboratory project in J&K.

Sources pointed out that the idea of the setting up the regional forensic laboratories had been floated to speed up the investigations of the case, both relating to the crime and militancy.

The existing forensic laboratory in Jammu is not only badly unequipped but is also running short of forensic experts, sources said.

In high profile cases of crime, the forensic expertise has to be sought from outside the state, sources informed adding that this process consumes a lot of time.

Sources said that when the investigations of the crime cases requires the tests of narco and DNA or brain-mapping of people, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has to approach the forensic laboratories at Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, or Hyderabad or Chandigarh.

However, as these high profile laboratories are already flooded with cases also from other parts of the country, the investigations get delayed, sources said.

The forensic laboratories in Jammu and Kashmir were to be set up in order to overcome such delays in the investigations of the crime cases, sources said.

Following the proposal, the state government was asked by the MHA to go ahead with the project and make the land available for setting of the forensic laboratories.

The central government had also agreed to provide the necessary expertise to the state in setting up the forensic laboratories and making it function efficiently, sources stated.

However, the state government is yet to identify the land for setting up the laboratories, sources stated.