Centre gives nod, NIA to take over PETN case
The home ministry on Wednesday ordered an NIA probe into the recovery of explosives in the Uttar Pradesh assembly earlier this month, an official said. The decision came after the ministry received a report and recommendation from the Uttar Pradesh government on the recovery of PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) on the assembly premises on July 12. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon take over the case, a senior NIA official Alok Mittal confirmed to HT over the phone. FIR No 557/2017 was registered with Hazratganj police station, Lucknow, on July 14 relating to the recovery of PETN from the UP legislative assembly hall.
LUCKNOW: The home ministry on Wednesday ordered an NIA probe into the recovery of explosives in the Uttar Pradesh assembly earlier this month, an official said.
The decision came after the ministry received a report and recommendation from the Uttar Pradesh government on the recovery of PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) on the assembly premises on July 12.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon take over the case, a senior NIA official Alok Mittal confirmed to HT over the phone. FIR No 557/2017 was registered with Hazratganj police station, Lucknow, on July 14 relating to the recovery of PETN from the UP legislative assembly hall.
A source said the NIA is now re-registering this case at its office in Lucknow accordingly and will start investigation immediately. He said the NIA initiated the process to take over the case as per the MHA order. The source said the NIA sleuths unofficially had visited the site earlier after recovery of the suspicious powder but did not take up the probe.
The case so far was being probed by UP Anti Terror Squad (ATS) after experts at State Forensic Science Laboratory, Mahanagar, Lucknow, confirmed the suspicious powder as PETN on preliminary examination. A controversy arose about the genuineness of the Lucknow lab after which the state home authorities had sent the powder sample to Hyderabad central forensic science laboratory for an advanced test to confirm the claim.
The suspicious powder was found in the UP assembly when the VVIP area was being sanitised before the start of the second day’s proceedings of the ongoing budget session on July 12. The chance discovery of the powder caused panic after the state FSL confirmed it to be a high potential explosive powder. In this connection, the Lucknow police lodged an FIR against unidentified people on July 14.