India to Use Truth Serum on Terrorist

Drug used during Cold War, now banned in most democracies
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2008 6:11 PM CST
India to Use Truth Serum on Terrorist
Indian muslims marched in the streets of Mumbai Wednesday to protest against the recent attacks on their city and to condemn Pakistan.   (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Indian police plan to inject a controversial truth serum into the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist to try to prove his identity, reports the London Times. The narcotics-powered analysis could yield proof that the so-called "baby-faced gunman" is indeed from Pakistan, which India suspects but Pakistan doubts. Western agencies stopped using the method—usually a form of sodium pentathol—during the Cold War because of psychological side effects such as hallucinations and delusions.

Interrogators say the 24-year-old has been "verified" to be from rural Pakistan, but President Asif Ali Zardari said he is skeptical. An established link to the nuclear rival could force Pakistan to take action or face a US backlash. Indian police say they have recovered Pakistani grenades from the rubble and have ample other evidence. (More police interrogation stories.)

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