The Ceylon News

The Sri Lankan army’s claim on Tuesday that a DNA mapping has already been done on the body of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was termed as ‘absurd’ by Indian forensic science expert Dr P Chandrasekharan.

He told The New Indian Express that DNA mapping could be done only if the army had samples of Prabhakaran’s DNA, obtained when he was alive, which was highly improbable.

Besides, the forensic expert who helped CBI’s Special Investigation Team crack the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, said that DNA mapping could not be done in a jiffy and would require a minimum of four days, given the fact there could be no laboratory near the war zone.

After watching the visuals on television, showing soldiers having a close look at the body, Chandrasekharan said that it looked as if Prabhakaran had been shot from point blank range.

Since the top of the head was covered in the visuals, he could not assess the damage to the skull and hence was unable to say what sort of firearm was used.

Asked if Prabhakaran could have shot himself or could have been fired at by the army, he said such details could be ascertained only through a ballistic test.

Keeping this in view, he said the Lankan government should not dispose of the body in a hurry, as Pakistan did with the body of Benazir Bhutto.

Chandrasekharan said ‘the manner of death’ and ‘the cause of death’ would be known only through tests.

Since the LTTE cadre were known to bite into cyanide capsules if cornered, a visceral test would also be required to find out if Prabhakaran had swallowed the poisonous substance before being shot.