High-profile case evidence safe after lab fire, FSL Director clarifies

The Telangana FSL has assured that all sensitive evidence, including material linked to the Note-for-Vote and phone-tapping cases, remains safe despite a recent fire. Data recovery is under way, and police are investigating the incident.

Hyderabad: Amid mounting questions regarding the security of sensitive case files, especially pertaining to the ‘Note-for-Vote’ investigations, the Director of the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) on Sunday clarified that all the material objects are secure.

The senior FSL officials stated that despite the recent fire at the facility, the integrity of evidence involving high-profile political figures that police officials have not been compromised.

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Shikha Goel, Director Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Telangana, on Sunday said that in the ‘Note for Vote’ scam, related to the alleged involvement of Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, the FSL in the year 2015 received 16 material objects from the ACB.

“All the material objects and reports were returned to the court in 2021 itself. No material was stored in the FSL,” Shikha Goel clarified.

In the ‘phone tapping case’, the top official said that from 2024 to January 2026, a total of 136 material objects were received at the FSL.

“Except for seven, the remaining material objects were submitted to the forwarding authority. The remaining seven items available in the FSL have been retrieved safely and are stored under security and proper guard,” an official said.

When asked about the quantum of damage due to the fire, the Director FSL said that the process of retrieving data is under process.

“We are hopeful of retrieving all the data from the computers. The FSL is capable of doing it,” she said.

The official said that the fire started at 10.08 am, and the office boy, Sai, noticed the fire and alerted the official concerned. The fire tenders arrived and put out the fire by 1.30 pm.

“The computer lab, conference hall, and library were damaged due to fire. The remaining facilities in the laboratory are functioning as usual,” said Shikha Goel.

A police case is registered at Nampally police station and the police will investigate it from all angles. “The police and fire department will give the exact cause of fire after investigation,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the cyber forensic rooms, library and conference rooms were sealed by the police and will be handed over to the FSL only after completion of the examination and probe.