When the Delhi police investigating the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor , looked to retrieve data said to be missing from Pushkar's laptops and mobile phones, it did not scour the earth for data experts or security consultants. It simply turned to the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS), a criminal investigative science laboratory, in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. DFS boasts of facilities such as computer forensics, narco-analysis, polygraph examination, audio-video tape authentication system, integrated ballistics identification system and even a cow-meat testing mobile lab. Officials at DFS, a lab where even sleuths from abroad turn to for help in their investigations, work closely with The Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU), which aims to create an army of Indian forensic students. GFSU was established in 2009, as one of the pet projects of prime minister Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.GSFU is billed as the only university in the world dedicated to forensic and investigative sciences. Its location in Gujarat should not surprise. As CM, Modi showed a penchant to create institutions that help youth specialise in an array of fields. Gujarat is home to a sports university, a yoga university and a skills university. Modi's successor Anandiben Patel has continued in the same vein, establishing universities dedicated to studying cows and kidneys.Still, the GSFU is a bona fide institution of learning. It seeks to impart the best intelligence techniques and technologies to its students. It is not shy of even discussing the methods of top spy agencies such as Israel’s Mossad, the US' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the British Military Intelligence (MI) and Germany's BND.The university has three main institutes — Institute of Forensic Sciences, Institute of Research & Development and Institute of Behavioral Sciences. "All the institutes have further specialised programmes," said RN Guna, deputy registrar of GFSU and assistant director at DFS, Gujarat.The pride of the place at the institute is Asia's first Ballistic Research Centre. The underground ballistic testing facility, built at a cost of Rs 25 crore, can test anything from small arms to large-size armour vehicles, to bullet proof jackets, to AK-47. Thanks to the centre, India and other countries have stopped approaching the UK or France for testing their arsenal and equipment, which typically is a costly affair. GFSU has also set up an intelligence laboratory to train pupils in cyber crime and cyber warfare. The laboratory was built by Finnish company Codenomicon with an investment of Rs 12.5 crore.The GFSU campus is spread across 50,000 sq meters and houses hostels for boys and girls, each with 126 rooms. It also has 16 guest houses for visiting officials and eight studio apartments. The university runs post graduation and PG diploma programmes in subjects such as forensic nanotechnology, forensic civil engineering, forensic pharmacy and forensic psychology.GFSU registrar CD Jadeja said the university is keen to provide every kind of specialisation given that sophisticated crime is on the rise. For example, thanks to nanotechnology, it's possible to pick up the faintest fingerprints. "In the absence of this kind of technological advancement in forensics, justice can't be easily delivered in today's world," he said.GFSU now has 450 regular students. There are also nearly 300 online students, mainly Gujarat police officials. At least 35 students are pursuing a PhD in various specialised fields.There are also plenty of foreigners learning the ropes in investigation. Recently, 31 top cops from Nepal completed their forensic training here. Six top policemen from Bangladesh completed their forensic training and another batch of 15 is set to arrive. Another six from Mozambique are undergoing a two-year residential course. Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan too have previously sent their officials to GFSU.Diogos Marcos and Saiyed Hussain, the two Mozambique officials undergoing the training, said GFSU's advantage is that it provides a comprehensive knowhow of forensics under one roof. "That is rare and the best way to learn," said Marcos.GFSU has also trained IPS officers, wildlife officers, doctors, medical officers and judges from India. It has 13 MoUs for technology and knowledge sharing with foreign security agencies, including with US-based StraEd, which trains US security officials in homeland security.It helps that GFSU is closely associated with DFS, which has handled high-profile cases such as the murder of 14-year-old girl Aarushi Talwar, the Nithari (Noida) serial murders and the murders in godman Asaram Bapu's ashram.JM Vyas, Director General of GFSU and director of Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Gujarat, said the experts churned out by the university are not only picked by security agencies in the government but also by private companies that require forensic investigators to find flaws in their products. The university has become a magnet for recruitment for companies in the insurance, pharma and automobile sectors. In recent years, Bajaj Alliance, SBI Life, Maruti Suzuki, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Cadila Pharmaceuticals, among others, have hired students from GFSU.Vyas said in the coming years, the need for forensic investigators would increase not only in government agencies but also in the corporate world. Recruiters would know where to turn to.