Delhi Police Special: Blood Group A+B = AB

"It is apparent that some overzealous police officer has planted blood on the dao because blood group A and blood group B when mixed together do not make blood group AB."
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(December 25, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Is AB blood group a result of mixing blood group A with group B? At least some Delhi Police sleuths think so. But for this lack of knowledge of elementary biology, these cops would have got away with their devious plan of planting evidence to "solve" a murder case and framing an innocent man.

In a desperate attempt to crack a double murder with no eyewitnesses, these policemen planted blood group AB on the weapon of offence thinking it would explain the killing of a man and his wife who had blood groups A and B, respectively.

The trick fell flat before the Delhi high court, which caught the fraud while hearing the appeal of Deepak Kaul, who was sentenced to life by a trial court for killing his uncle V N Kaul and his wife Shanti Kaul 11 years ago.

Challenging his conviction, Deepak's counsel Sumeet Verma contended that it was a blind case with no eyewitnesses and the prosecution had failed to prove any motive behind the murder as the accused had cordial relations with the victims. Verma added that the prosecution's case was entirely based on a blood trail found in the house and the fact that the accused was arrested from the spot with blood on his shoes.

The prosecution had examined 17 witnesses to press its case and said that it was only after the disclosure statement of the accused, in which he "confessed" to his crime, that the weapon of offence and his blood-stained clothes were recovered. Even though the trial court appreciated the prosecution's theory and convicted the accused, the HC felt otherwise.

After going through the evidence, a division bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Suresh Kait caught the police's goof-up. The bench said that though the blood group of V N Kaul was A and his wife's blood group was B, "surprisingly, as per the FSL report, blood of group AB was detected on the dao (a sickle, the weapon of offence)".

Hinting at a deliberate attempt made by the police to falsely implicate the accused, the bench said, "It is apparent that some overzealous police officer has planted blood on the dao because blood group A and blood group B when mixed together do not make blood group AB."

While acquitting Deepak in the murder case, the bench also rejected the trial court's finding that the blood stains of the deceased were found on the shoes worn by the accused at the time of murder thereby proving his guilt. It said that since many people, including Deepak, were gathered in the house where the couple were murdered before the police arrived, "the possibility of somebody unconsciously stepping on the blood" cannot be ruled out.