press trust of india
Lucknow, July 14: Uttar Pradesh Assembly was rocked by a security scare Friday with a forensic report confirming that the powder discovered by cleaning staff from the premises July 12 was high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN.
The Assembly unanimously recommended a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe of the incident, after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath revealed the findings before the House.
Uttar Pradesh Police has registered an FIR against unknown persons under various sections of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 121A (conspiring to wage war) in the wake of the findings.
Adityanath informed the house that the white powder (150 grams) had been found wrapped in paper, tucked under the cushion of a seat in the House. Experts suggest that 500 gms of the explosive was adequate to blow up the House.
Adityanath said the explosive was found under the bench, third from where Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Choudhary sits.
Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar, however, appeared to rule out the possibility of an explosion as a detonator or power pack were not found. “Here only explosive has been found,” he stated and added that CCTV footage was to be studied for evidence.
In the home department press briefing, IG Anti-Terrorism Squad Aseem Arun said the probe has been taken over by the ATS. He said foolproof security arrangements will be made.
In his statement, Adityanath said: “The security of the House is our concern. This is part of a dangerous terrorist conspiracy and should be exposed. The state government wants to get an NIA probe done in the matter and police verification of employees and officials working in Vidhan Bhawan.”
“So far the government was worried about security outside the assembly, and now this has become a more serious matter,” he said and appealed to Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit to ensure police verification of the assembly staff because security of over 500 MLAs and MLCs was at stake.
The House passed a resolution recommending an NIA probe into it. Noting that the UP Assembly was the biggest in the country, Adityanath said the entire country keeps an eye on proceedings here with a hope to “see something new and good”.
“No compromise will be made on the security of the assembly which has 503 members (including Legislative Council). A joint effort is needed for this. This is a dangerous tendency that security of assembly is breached when House is in session,” he said.
After the chief minister’s statement, the Speaker announced several measures to ensure security of the House besides agreeing to recommend an NIA probe. “We have met earlier (before the House assembled) and decided on several security measures to be introduced in the House.
On all the gates QRT of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) will be deployed and whole body scanners will be installed. All the entry passes issued to MLAs and their representatives will be cancelled and only one vehicle pass will be issued to MLAs,” the Speaker said.
The driver of legislators will be verified and those having no pass will not be allowed entry inside assembly premises, he added.
Passes issued to former MLAs and others will also be cancelled and police verification of assembly staff will be done, he said.
The Speaker also allowed an Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) team inside the House stating that “we are a family and no one will be allowed to raise a finger at it”.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said all measures, as directed by the Speaker, will be taken to ensure Vidhan Bhawan’s security.
The Leader of Opposition said they accepted the measures stating that no one should be allowed to breach security of the House.
BSP member Uma Shankar Singh said it was a matter of concern that despite having jammers, mobile phones used to ring inside the House.
SP members expressed shock over the recovery of the explosive material. “It is astonishing. How is it possible? Explosives reaching inside the House is a serious matter,” said SP legislator Shailendra Yadav.
Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowhdury (SP) said the matter was serious and the security of the House should be taken care of.
While some members like Nitin Agarwal (SP) got to know about the development through media reports, others were seen updating their fellow legislators about it.
One arrested
The police have arrested a man on suspected connections with the finding of PETN from UP Assembly. The man, Farhan Ahmed, was arrested from Deoria, 325 km from state capital Lucknow, as he had allegedly called up the ADG (Law and Order) and threatened to blow up the UP legislature building on Independence Day. “Farhan was arrested Thursday and his mobile phone seized, Additional Superintendent of Police Chiranjeevi Sinha said. Ahmed, 20, was being interrogated by local police and intelligence officials from Delhi, Sinha added. However, the ADG said, it would be too early to link Ahmed with the recovery of the explosive from the Assembly.
PETN is militants’ pet
PETN is one of the most dangerous plastic explosives available in the black market and is preferred by militants as the colourless crystals easily get past security checks. It is from the same family of explosives as nitroglycerin. PETN can be concealed in sealed containers or electrical equipment and taken through security checks without being detected. Several countries have severe restrictions on the purchase of PETN, which comes in powder form or as thin plastic sheets. The substance is legally used by the military and in mining industries where it is used in detonating cords and mines. PETN can be mixed with other chemicals to form Semtex. However, it needs secondary detonating mechanism to produce heat or a shockwave, which can detonate the explosive. PETN has been used in number of bombing incidents over the years, and is suspected to have been used in a bombing at Delhi High Court in 2011, which killed 17 people.
