MAKKAH, 21 March 2008 — Examining crime scenes, tracing criminals and finding leads is all in a day’s work for 70-year-old Muhsin Al-Qurashi.

A wizened old man, Al-Qurashi works for the Makkah police as a tracker. His work is similar to that of forensic experts. Armed only with his instincts and know-how learned from his father and brothers, Al-Qurashi provides leads to crimes that are often overlooked by forensic experts and investigators.

“It’s a talent that few people have. The police often contact me to help them out,” Al-Qurashi told Arab News. “I learned this skill from my father and my elder brothers,” he added.

Al-Qurashi generally operates in rural locations. “It’s difficult operating in urban areas where there are tarmac roads and cemented paths,” he said, adding that he sometimes visits urban locations where, depending on the circumstances, he is able to operate effectively.

“If a body is found then the first thing I’ll do is check and see whether the death was natural or whether there was some sort of foul play involved. Did the guy fall and die? Was he hit? Did he die of natural causes?”

Trackers need to be patient and have keen senses, he said. “You need to follow the criminal step by step. You need to enter his mind and think and breathe like him to trace him,” said Al-Qurashi.

The Al-Qurashi family’s expertise in tracking is well known, attracting even the praise of the founder of Saudi Arabia King Abdul Aziz. “Once there was a tribal murder and my brother was called to investigate. He managed to locate the killer,” said Al-Qurashi. “King Abdul Aziz was impressed and rewarded him. It was then that he was appointed to work with Makkah police.”

Al-Qurashi was once called to investigate a car crash in which a man had died. “It was made to appear that the car had crashed into a tree. I told the police that there were two cars and four people involved in the plot,” said Al-Qurashi.

“I was even able to determine the make of the other car. Police were able to locate the plotters within two days,” he added.

Al-Qurashi is generally able to provide a brief physical description of a person by simply looking at a footprint in the sand.

“I was once called to look at a body found in the desert. Police thought that the man had suffered from sunstroke and died as a result,” he said. “But it was obvious that the body had been dumped there by someone. Two of the man’s friends were questioned. They denied any wrongdoing, but their footprints matched those found in the sand,” he said.

Speaking about the discovery of a body buried under a tree in a Makkah farm, Al-Qurashi said: “I followed tracks and managed to locate an Asian worker who claimed the man was killed when his car hit him. He said he panicked after the accident and so buried him in the farm.”

But the body had marks that were inconsistent with a car accident. “The man then admitted that he had killed his coworker during a fight,” Al-Qurashi said.

In spite of old age, Al-Qurashi said his senses are sharp and useful in tracking down criminals.