1. 4/19/2013 saurabh bhargava 1
Narco Analysis
&
BEOS

2. Definition
NARCO-ANALYSIS Refers to the practice of
administering barbiturates or certain other
chemical substances ( pentothal sodium ) , to
lower a subject’s inhibitions, in the hope that
the subject will more freely share information
and feelings.
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3. The term Narco-Analysis is derived
from the Greek word narkç
(meaning "anesthesia" or "torpor")
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4. The term Narco-Analysis
is used to describe a
diagnostic and psychotherapeutic
technique that uses psychotropic
drugs, particularly barbiturates, to
induce a stupor in which mental
elements with strong associated
affects come to the surface, where
they can be exploited by the therapist.
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5. • It’s a psychotherapy conducted while the
patient is in a sleep like state induced by
barbiturates or other drugs.
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6. WHO INVENTED THIS ?
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7. History
In 1916 , Dr. Robert House an obstetrician who
noticed that the popular obstetric anesthetic
drug, scopolamine would put his patients into a
state where they would deliver information in a way
that seemed automatic.
Dr. House had asked patient’s husband for a scale to
weigh the newborn. The man looked for it and
returned to the bedroom saying he could not find it,
whereupon his wife(patient), still under the
anesthetic, told him exactly where it was.
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8. In 1922, Dr House tried the technique
on two prisoners in a Dallas
jail, helping to exonerate both.
The term narco analysis was coined by
Horseley .
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9. Procedure
• In the Narco Analysis Test, the subject's
inhibitions are lowered by interfering with his
nervous system at the molecular level. In this
state, it becomes difficult though not
impossible for him to lie .In such sleep-like
state efforts are made to obtain "probative
truth" about the crime.
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10. Over the counter
TRUTH SERUM
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11. Drugs commonly used
in narco analysis
• Barbiturates
Sodium amytal
(amobarbital)
Sodium pentothal
(thiopental)
Seconal
(seconbarbital)
• Benzodiazepines
e.g.
diazepam
lorazepam
midazolam
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12. Mechanism of action of
drugs
used in narco analysis
Barbiturates
• Enhance the activity of
GABA; increasing actions of
this neurotransmitter
• Inhibit the entry of Ca2+ ion
in presynaptic nerve
terminals ,thus decreasing
the release of
neurotransmitter
• Inhibition of RAS (Reticular
Activating System) resulting
in respiratory depression
Benzodiazepines
• Increases the affinity of
GABA receptors
• Inhibit spinal polysynaptic
afferent pathway resulting
in relaxation of skeletal
muscles
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13. WWII
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14. During World War II, these drugs were
used as the first intravenous anaesthetics
and were used to treat traumatized
soldiers who had lost their memories or
had aphasia . Doctors found that using
these drugs would make it easier for
people to say what happened, and this
helped them feel better .4/19/2013 14saurabh bhargava

15. Procedural requirements
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16. Directorate of Forensic
Science(DFS) under the MHA of
Govt. of India has issued a Working
Procedural Manual describing the
procedural requirements with
provisions for necessary
modifications by SFSLs.
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17. Operation Theatre
• Narco analysis is conducted in a specific and
controlled medical set up.
• facilities that must be present during narco analysis-
Facilities for monitoring vital physiological
parameters ( ECG monitor)
Availability of emergency medical facilities
(defibrillator,endotracheal intubation,oxygen
cylinder,laryngoscope)
Anaesthesia machines
Pulse oxymeter
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18. Team of experts
 In India, the narco analysis test is done by a
team comprising of
• A psychiatrist,
• An anaesthesiologist,
• A general physician,
• A forensic psychologist,
• Supporting nursing staff,
• An audio-videographer and
• Interpretor, if needed.
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19. psychiatrist
A psychiatrist certifies
that the subject’s
mental status as fit,
as a number of
psychiatric conditions
like clinical depression
and psychosis are
contra-indicative.
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20. Forensic
psychologist
•forensic psychologist
is the one who is going
to conduct the
interview
•The questions are
selected very carefully
and should be concise
, precise & relevant
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21. anaesthesiologist
•Administration of
drug
•Maintenance of
narcotic state
•To monitor levels of
sedation and oxygen
saturation
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22. general physician
•He has to certify that
the subject is fit for
undergoing this
procedure
•Also he has to be
attentive all through
the procedure
towards any
significant changes , if
any, in the subject’s
vital physiological
signs
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23. Videography
The whole process of any subject
undergoing narco-analysis is videographed
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24. Forensic Science Laboratory
Bangalore,Karnataka and
Forensic Science Laboratory
Gandhinagar,Gujarat.
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25. THE TECHNIQUE:
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26. • Narco Analysis is conducted by injecting 3
grams of sodium pentothal dissolved in 300 ml
of distilled water and this prepared solution is
administered intravenously over a period of 3
hours with the help of anaesthetist .
• The dose is dependent on the person’s sex ,
age , health and physical condition.
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27. .
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The rate of administration is so
controlled to drive the suspect slowly
into the state of hypnotic trance.
The ECG and blood pressure are
monitored continuously throughout the
testing procedure.

28. Pre test interview
• A pre test interview is conducted mainly to
prepare the subject to undergo the procedure
which involves—
A written informed consent
A thorough mental status examination
Information regarding the possible main and side
effects of drug
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29. Post test counseling
• The dual purpose of the post test counseling
is—
Monitoring the subject’s medical condition
Discuss the information revealed during the
procedure; subject is given the opportunity to
explain the information revealed
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30. The report
•The forensic psychologist will prepare the
report about the revelations, which will be
accompanied by a compact disc of audio-
video recordings.
• The strength of the revelations, if necessary, is
further verified by subjecting the person to
polygraph and brain mapping tests.
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31. CONSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVES
&
LEGAL SCRUTINY OF THE TEST
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32. Article 20 (3) of the Indian
Constitution
• Clause (3) of Article 20 (Right Against
Self Incrimination) declares that-
• “ no person accused of an offence shall
be compelled to be a witness against
himself “
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33. Interestingly
The results of Lie-detector or Brain- Mapping
or electronic surviellance or DNA finger-
printing are not statements made by the
witness, but merely extracting informations
, hence do not violate Article 20(3).
However, narco-analysis Test (injecting 3
grams of pentathol in subject’s body) results
into involuntarily making a statement and
hence violation of Art. 20(3)
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34. Section 161(2) CrPC
• S.161 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure
states that every person—
“is bound to answer truthfully all questions,
put to him by (a police) officer, other than
questions the answers to which would have a
tendency to expose that person to a criminal
charge, penalty or forfeiture”.
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35. ‘Truth Serum’
name justified???
• Narco analysis does not guarantee that
whatever the person speaks is the truth, it's
just his sub-conscious mind which is
controlling him and in such a case even
fantasies are spoken with the same intensity
as any other thing and so in such a case,
culling out a truthful statement from other is
neither easy nor possible.
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36. Lethal dose
• The dose may lead to coma state and even
death of the subject also if not properly
maintained/regulated.
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37. Facts from the past
• Narco test harmed vision: Ahmedabad Blast
accused(Mujib Sheikh,an engineering student)
• Post-narco test, driver screams memory loss
(Bandhavgarh National Park)
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38. Isn’t it a form of
3rd degree torture
• I am of the view that it is also as grave as third
degree torture as in both the cases you make
the person speak what you want.
• Just because it does not leave any mark on the
body of the accused does not mean its not
torturing of the person.
• It has been held as rape of mind by the
honorable Supreme Court in the case of Selvi
also.
• For me torture remains torture, physical or
otherwise.4/19/2013 38saurabh bhargava

39. WHAT ABOUT HUMAN
RIGHTS
???
• It is nothing but a gross violation of Human
Rights of Accused.
• And just because a person is accused, it does
not mean he/she is not having Human Rights
or Fundamental Rights.
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40. ADMISSIBILITY
• If such statement is used to assist in making
some recovery u/s 27 of The Indian Evidence
Act-1872, then it is admissible.
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41. Abu Salem (right), one of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts
case and a close associate of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, after a
narcoanalysis test at Bowring Hospital, Bangalore, in December 2005.
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42. Abdul Karim Telgi, the kingpin of the stamp paper scam, being brought
to a Bangalore court in 2003. Telgi underwent narcoanalysis in
Bangalore.
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43. Surender Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher main accused in the Nithari
case, coming out from a forensic science laboratory in Gandhinagar in
January 2007 after narcoanalysis.
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45. Rajesh Talwar underwent narco test as one of the main accus in famous
Aarushi-Hemraj murder case.
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46. 4/19/2013 46saurabh bhargava

47. 4/19/2013 saurabh bhargava 47

48. BEOS
( Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature )
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49. What is it???
• Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling
(BEOS) is a scientific tool, which measures the
changes in electrical activity of the brain
associated with the presence of knowledge
provoked by a probe, when the suspect does not
has to offer an answer or response.
• BEOS is used to identify individuals with
Experience of participating in a crime.
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50. Invention
• They do say that is history is cyclical. It was
Europe’s turn in the nineteenth century, the
turn of the US in the twentieth, and now India
has been bitten by the belief that mindreading
is possible and is holding the torch in the race
of developing and implementing newer ,
better and more promising techniques for
extraction of information from criminal minds.
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51. 4/19/2013 saurabh bhargava 51
• The inventor of the Brain Electrical
Oscillations Signature test is a
psychologist from Bangalore called
Champadi Raman Mukundan.

52. The Concept
• Mukundan had some data on the links
between the brain and memory , and he
translated it into a set of eleven physiological
variables. If all eleven variables come up
positive on an electroencephalogram, then
the statement being read out to a suspect was
assumed to be true.
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53. 4/19/2013 saurabh bhargava 53
• Knowing and Remembering are two Neuro-
cognitive processes, of which-
• Knowing refers to the cognitive process of
recognition with or without familiarity,
• Remembrance is the recall of episodic and
autobiographical details from a person’s
life.(Mukundan, 2008).

54. 4/19/2013 saurabh bhargava 54
• Recognition or
Knowledge is a
conceptual
representation, acqu
ired through various
means of
communication and
conceptualization
• Remembrance is the
neuro-cognitive
process of bringing
personal past to the
present and thus
involves Personal
Experience of an
individual which was
gained by personal
participation.

55. How does it works
• The program of Brain Electrical Oscillation
Signature Profiling does not measure
Knowledge but it measures remembrance of
the Experiential Knowledge or
autobiographical information, which consists
of awareness of internal processing or
remembrance, sensory-motor mental
imageries associated with experience.
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56. Conti..
• The electrical activity related to remembrance is called
the “Signature” of the experience.
• The process is defined as the retrieval of the
Experiential Knowledge.
• The signature will be present only if a remembrance
can be evoked by the specially designed probes.
• Absence of Experiential Knowledge results in the
absence of the signature.
• Experiential knowledge is facilitated by awareness of
contextual details and emotional arousal if present.
(Mukundan, 2007)
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57. Probes used in BEOS
 Probes are used to stimulate the brain of a
subject for the purpose of eliciting evoked and
induced responses, which can be linked to the
contents of the probes.
The contents of the probes are associated
with the various aspects of the crime
investigated and control situations.
 Auditory Probes
 Visual Probes
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58. Essential conditions for successful
BEOS examination
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59. Consent
• Subject has the constitutional right to refuse
to take test
• Written consent ; if voluntarily take test
• No need of consent , if court orders for the
test
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60. Interview with IO
The list of activities to be examined is to be
evolved by the expert by interviewing the
IO, subject, eyewitnesses and others who have
knowledge of the crime.
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61. BEOS system
• Video integrated EEG with multiple (32) channels
is advantageous for understanding the
topographic distribution and significance of the
signals.
• High quality , non polarizing electrodes are
placed according to internationally accepted
systems of recording
• Computer software which enables acquisition of
the electrical oscillations and their analysis for
extracting the specific neurocognitive processing
markers (signature)
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62. The examiner
• BEOS examination depends upon the
educational background (preferably Ph.D in
Psychology) , personality , integrity
, objectivity and experience of the examiner
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63. The examinee
• Subject should be in good mental and physical
condition
• Subject shouldn’t be under the influence of
alcohol , drugs etc.
• Has no grave mental abnormalities
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64. BEOS examination
rooms
• The examination room should be sound ,
electrical proof and air-conditioned with
provision of one side mirror and CCTV &
recording system
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65. Privacy
• In the examination room ; none except the
examinee is present
• The examiner & his staff are present inside the
analysis room
• The counsel of the subject and police officer may
watch from outside through one side mirror or
CCTV monitor
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66. Objectives of BEOS
• To exonerate innocent person who may be
suspected to have been involved in the crime
• To identify individual(s) who are perpetrators
to the crime with certainty
• To differentiate the actual perpetrator of the
crime from those who may have only
conceptual knowledge of the crime
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67. Advantages of BEOS
over other techniques
• No response required from subject
• No interaction with subject during the
procedure
• Non invasive technique
• No human factor
• No suggestibility
• Monitoring of brain for presence of
experience of the concerned
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68. References:
• Textbook of Forensic Medicine And Toxicology V.V
Pillai .15 TH EDITION
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Handbook of Forensic Psychology; by Dr. Vimala
Veeraraghavan
• Indian J Med Ethics 2006 Oct-Dec; 3: 116-117.
• Text book of pharmacology by Tripathi
• Jesani A. Medical professionals and interrogation:
lies about finding the truth.
• www.timesofindia.com
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