Mumbai, Jan 1 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Monday refuted the claims of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut of a shortage of DNA testing kits in forensic laboratories in the state.

In a letter written to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, Raut claimed there was a shortage of DNA testing kits and had alleged the situation was being created artificially to allow high-profile accused to escape.

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In a statement issued during the day, the Home department said Raut's claims were false.

"There are eight laboratories in Maharashtra, including in Mumbai, to conduct DNA testing for the home department. In a recent accident in Buldhana, in which 25 persons died of burns, 82 DNA samples were tested in laboratories in Amravati and Nagpur and results were obtained in 74 hours," the statement said.

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"In December, the forensic lab in Mumbai gave report of DNA samples in 80 cases while it was 75 in Nanded, 63 in Nagpur, 25 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 25 in Amravati, 11 in Kolhapur and seven in Pune," it added.

The statement pointed out that DNA kits and chemicals involved have an expiry date and cannot be stored for long.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)