What is narco test?

Aftab
Poonawala, the 28-year-old man accused of the murder of his girlfriend Shraddha
Walkar (26), is not opening up in front of the police and providing misleading
information, media reports say. As such, the Delhi Police have sought a narco
test for the accused to actually find how the crime was committed.

Poonawala
allegedly strangled Walkar, his live-in partner, to death in May of this year, sliced
her body into 35 pieces and threw the pieces around Delhi. Police have
recovered some pieces while the remaining are yet to be found.

In a bid to
get the accused talking, the Delhi Police have sought a narco test.

What is
a narco test?

A narco
test involves injecting a drug into a person which causes them to enter various
stages of anaesthesia. This, in turn, induces a hypnotic stage that reduces
inhibition and makes the person more likely to divulge information, things that
they won’t reveal in a conscious state.

The drug
used in case of narco tests is sodium pentothal. Often referred to as ‘truth
serum,’ sodium pentothal was used during World War II intelligence operations.

The dose of
the truth serum is required to be accurately administered.

The Indian
Supreme Court allows narco tests only in criminal cases and with several
safeguards. The subject of the investigation must consent to a narco test and
the consent requires to be recorded and presented to the magistrate.

Is narco
test the same as a polygraph test?

No. A narco
test is not the same as a polygraph test. A polygraph test is based on the
assumption that physiological responses are triggered when a person is lying.
This is done through instruments such as cardio cuffs which measure variables
such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, change in sweat gland activity,
blood flow, etc.

In a polygraph
test, every physiological response is assigned a number and the resulting
number is used to conclude if a person is speaking the truth.