London, April 16: In what could begin a new era for forensic science, the police in Britain have arrested a drug dealer based on fingerprints they found on a WhatsApp image sent by the criminal to his clients.

The photograph showed part of the dealer's hand "and there was potentially a fingerprint," the BBC reported late on Sunday.

The scientific support unit scanned the image into its system but could not find a match because the photograph contained just parts of the middle and bottom of a finger visible while records only keep the top part.

However, other evidence was enough for the police to guess who was behind the drugs operation.

"While the scale and quality of the photograph proved a challenge, the small bits were enough to prove he was the dealer," Dave Thomas from South Wales Police scientific support unit was quoted as saying.

Police arrested a man on a tip-off that said drugs were being sold in Wales. While checking his phone, they found an image of the drug dealer named Elliott Morris holding ecstasy tablets in his palm.

"There was the photograph of the hand holding pills that seemed like it was sent to potential customers saying 'these are my wares, I'm selling these'," Thomas said.

"It has now opened the floodgates and when there is part of a hand on a photograph, officers are sending them in," he added.

According to the police officer, the dealers are using the technology not to get caught and the police need to keep up with advancements.

 

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Mumbai, May 1 (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said even 65 years after the formation of Maharashtra, there is one regret - that Belgaum and Karwar, parts of adjoining Karnataka, were still not merged with the western Marathi-speaking state.

Speaking at a party event organised on the occasion of Maharashtra Day, Pawar, who heads the ruling NCP, asserted his outfit will not abandon the ideology of legendary social reformers Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and B R Ambedkar.

Recalling the work of chief ministers of Maharashtra from the first CM Yashwantrao Chavan to the incumbent Devendra Fadnavis, Pawar said each one of them have contributed to development of the state since its formation in 1960.

"Maharashtra was formed out of struggle. Even if Maharashtra has completed 65 years of its existence, here is one regret in our hearts. Even today, the Marathi manoos (Marathi-speaking people) of Belgaum and Karwar are still not with us. The case is going on in the Supreme Court.

"The day they are merged with Maharashtra, we can confidently said Maharashtra is now complete," he said.

Maharashtra has been demanding that Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka -- Belgaum, Karwar, Nipani -- be merged with the state, a stand strongly opposed by the southern state.

Pawar noted India's population in 1947 was 35 crore, but it has now multiplied four times to 140 crore. The population of the state has also increased accordingly, he said.

He emphasised that those in power now and in the past have been working to address the water woes of Maharashtra, but with a growing population, the sources have become limited.

The deputy CM said some people oppose the bullet train project in India, but China and Japan have progressed because of such high-speed transport modes.

The erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (November 2019-June 2022) had stopped the bullet train project connecting Mumbai to Ahmedabad which is currently under construction.