We provide fingerprint lifting and analysis as an integral part of our forensic services. The techniques are primarily used to identify the people present at a specific location during a certain time period. Our detective services help sort the primary suspects from innocent individuals and help in the overall effort to solve the investigation.

Fingerprint analysis for detection purposes owes its origin to India. Sir William James Herschel initially used the technique in 1858 in Kolkata (then Calcutta) to solve cases of signature repudiation. Since then, the method has been used all over the world for the identification of people and has helped solved millions of crimes. Since those initial days, the technique has evolved from using simplistic chemicals to find prints to modern day use of alternate light sources and complex chemicals specially designed for that purpose. Fingerprint analysts now use the latest software to identify individuals and place them at the scene of the crime.

Fingerprints collected from crime scenes can be categorised into three varieties:

• Latent: These are the most common type and are generally invisible to the naked eye. These prints form when a person's natural body oil or sweat makes them leave behind their marks on a surface. They generally require physical, chemical or electronic analysis to be visible and are the best ways to place people at a certain location. Since they are invisible, criminals are generally not aware they have left their identification details behind at the scene and thus these remain undisturbed as the miscreants don't remove them by rubbing or washing the area clean. These prints are lifted by our team and not photographed
• Patent: These are visible to the eye and are found on any hard surface that may have come in contact with the person. These may include common surfaces such as cement walls, wooden doors, windows or furniture, crockery or glass. Most of these prints occur due to the presence of any powdery or sticky material that leaves impressions. However, due to the nature of the surface, minute facts such as details of the ridges in the finger are not found on these objects. Unlike latent prints, these are generally photographed by our team
• Plastic prints: These are generally found on soft surfaces that retain the pattern as well as shape of the fingerprint ridges. Examples would include soft and humid shape retaining materials such as dough, candle wax, wet soap, fixing materials for repair such as sealants and putty, etc.

We use the latest techniques including ultraviolet, fluorescent, LED or other alternate light sources to find and bring out the details in the impression. We then use standard fingerprint powder, superglue, rubber tape with glue and / or chemicals to lift the prints. In the case of visible impressions, we photograph the details. Once the data has been entered into the system, we classify it and match it with the databases of known criminals. If the fingerprint finds a match, we pass on the information to the client and police authorities. If it does not match any known offender, we put it into the database for later referential use when we search other premises related to the ongoing investigation.