PETN case: NIA team visits Uttar Pradesh Assembly

The Union home ministry had on Wednesday ordered the NIA to take up the case.

New Delhi, Jul 28: In connection with explosive chemical PETN being found in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, a team of NIA officials along with experts from CFSL, Chandigarh on Friday visited the UP Assembly hall in Lucknow.

The official said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team made a thorough assessment of the scene from where the suspected explosive PETN was found.

"The team was accompanied by the NIA explosive expert and the forensic experts from the CFSL, Chandigarh," he said in a statement here.

The team had discussions with officials of the home department, the state assembly, police and the ATS, UP on various aspects of the alleged recovery of PETN, it said. The NIA had registered a case on July 26 to probe the recovery of explosives in the Uttar Pradesh assembly earlier this month.

The Union home ministry had ordered the NIA to take up the case. The ministry's decision came after it received a report and recommendation from the Uttar Pradesh government on the recovery of PETN from the Assembly premises.

About 150 grams of PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) explosive was found wrapped in a paper close to the seat of the Leader of the Opposition, Ram Govind Choudhary, in the Assembly on July 12. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had described it as a "dangerous terror conspiracy" and recommended a probe into the incident by the NIA.

PTI