COURSE TITLE FORENSIC SCIENCE CREDITS 3

COURSE COURSE
BSO498 Core/PE/OE/Minor L-T-P 2-0-2
CODE CATEGORY

Version 1.0 Approved OE 3-0-0 BTL-3

ASSESSMENT SCHEME
Semester
During Semester Assessment (DSA) End
Examination
MSE-1 MSE-2 DSA Components Attendance SEE

10% 10% 25% 5% 50%

This course is taught as an open elective to all branches of engineering students aims to teach
some of the basic properties of forensic science and the necessary application of science
technology in forensic study. Forensic engineering is the application of engineering principles
Course
to the investigation of failures. This gives emphasis on study of materials, devices, structures,
Description
and products that do not work as they were designed to or fail to work completely. This course
mainly deals with Physics, Chemistry, Biology and computational knowledge in the field of
forensic science.
This course will enable the students to:
 Understand the different types of fingerprints and their detection by chemical and
instrumental methods
 Explain different types of biological body fluid properties and characteristics.
Course  Use instrumentation and tools for systematic analysis of evidence including biological
Objective chemical, digital etc.
 Explain the preparation, characterization and detection of various explosives
 Describe the basic conceptual knowledge of computer forensic and cell phone forensic
Create awareness on abusive drugs and their identification using chemical and
instrumental tool.
Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to
1. Analyze the different principles of science and technology for application in solving forensic
problems
Course 2. Characterize fingerprint forensic using different chemical and instrumental methods
Outcome 3. Familiarize with explosives and their identification with various modern tool
4. Analyze the issue of paternity considering DNA profiling using RFLP method
5. Recognize the features of abusive drugs and their identification.
6. Solving problems of email and cell phone related frauds

Prerequisites: General and applied Chemistry, Physics, and Basic mathematics

CO, PO AND PSO MAPPING
 PO PO PO PO- PO PO PO- PO PO PO- PSO- PSO- PSO-
CO PO-9 PO -10
-1 -2 -3 4 -5 -6 7 -8 -11 12 1 2 3
CO-1 - - 3 - 3 - - - - - - - - - -
CO-2 - 3 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - -
CO-3 - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - -
CO-4 2 - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - -
CO-5 - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
CO-6 3 - 2 - - - - - - - 2 2 - - -
1: Weakly related, 2: Moderately related and 3: Strongly related
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION AND FINGERPRINT FORENSIC (10 HRS)
Introduction to forensic science. Interface between forensic engineering and science. History
of forensic. Seven principles of forensic science. Fingerprint impression, their types. Different
CO-1, CO2
type finger ridges. Collection of fingerprint samples. Latent fingerprint development from
various surface of crime scene. Silver nitrate test, powder dusting method. Ninhydrin reaction.
Construction and working principle of capacitive fingerprint scanner.

MODULE 2: EXPLOSIVES AND GUNSHOTS RESIDUE (9 HRS)

Definition of explosives, types of explosives. Important terminology in explosives. Chemical
equation for explosion. General characteristics of RDX, TNT, gun powder, PETN, nitroglycerine.
Detection of RDX and TNT by chemical method, instrumental method – GC, MS, Ion mobility
spectrophotometry.
What is GSR? Pattern of GSR. Retention of GSR particulates. Detectable material in GSR – CO-3
inorganic and organic matter. GSR collection. Identification of GSR – visual examination,
modified Gries test, Sodium Rhodizonate Test, Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and Scanning
Electron Microscope with energy-dispersion X-ray (SEM/EDX) method. GSR and distance
measurement
MODULE 3: SEROLOGY AND DNA PROFILE (10 HRS)
What is serology? Introduction to blood. Checking blood. Presumptive and confirmatory test.
Kastle-Mayer test, Luminol test. Test for human blood - Uhlenbuth test (Ring Precipitin Test).
Blood spatter analysis, measurement of angle of impact. Worked out example.
Chemical composition of saliva and semen. Detection test for saliva and semen at crime scene. CO-4
What is DNA? History of DNA profile. Composition and structure of DNA. Outline of genetic
manipulations, enzymes in genetic manipulation, basic molecular cloning procedures, isolation
of specific nucleic acid sequences – complementary DNA. Extraction of DNA. Solving paternity
issue. DNA profiling
MODULE 4: NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES (9 HRS)
Definition. Parts of human brain and its network. Drug effect on brain and human
performance. Classification of Drugs commonly encountered: Narcotics, depressants,
stimulants, hallucinogens designer drugs, club drugs and date drugs.
Analysis of Drugs: Narcotic drugs, Depressants, Barbiturates, methaquolone, Benzodiazipines, CO-5
Stimulants, Hallucinogens, Designer Drugs, Club drugs, date rape drugs and precursors by Field
test kits for drugs and precursors using color test, thin layer chromatography and further
confirmation by HPTLC, UV-Vis spectrophotometry

MODULE 5: E-MAIL AND CELLPHONE FORENSIC (9 HRS)

Basic introduction to cyber forensic. Cybercrimes under Information Technology Act 2000.
Introduction to Digital Forensics, Definition and types of cybercrimes, electronic evidence and CO-6
handling. History of Emails. Analysis of email fraud, recovery of deleted emails.
Explain and understand the underlying technology of mobile devices and wireless networks,
emphasizing how the data they contain can be used as evidence
TEXT BOOKS
1. Lucas A. Forensic Chemistry. London: Edward Arnold.
2. David Collins, Forensic Chemistry, Thomson book.
3. B.R. Sharma, Forensic Science in Criminal Investigation & Trials, Universal Law publishing.
4. Deepak Ratan & Mohd. H. Zaidi, Forensic Science in India and the world, Alia Law Agency.
5. Jay Siegel & Pekka Saukko, Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, 2nd Edition, Elsevier
James S.H and Nordby J.J. (2003), Forensic Science: An introduction to scientific and
6.
investigative techniques, CRC Press, USA
7. Wentworth and Wilder (1948), Personal Identification, R. G. Badger, Boston.
REFERENCE BOOKS
Fundamentals of Biochemistry Donald Voet University of Pennsylvania Judith G. Voet
1. Swarthmore College, Emeritus Charlotte W. Pratt Seattle Pacific University John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.
2. Introductory Computer Forensics a Hands-on Practical Approach, Xiaodong Lin, Springer.
E BOOKS
1. FORENSIC.pdf
MOOC
1. https://www.edx.org/course/cybersecurity-fundamentals
2. NCSTL .ORG