The Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Saturday sought permission from the state assembly speaker HN Dixit to question over a dozen Samajwadi Party MLAs, including the one under whose seat the Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) explosive powder was recovered. 

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Questioning from SP MLAs is a must to get some clue since PETN was recovered from the opposition benches allotted to the Samajwadi Party MLAs, the ATS said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also pointed on Friday that planting of high explosive was not possible without the help of some insider. “I am baffled how it was found under the seat of a MLA,” he had stated on the floor of the House. 

Following the discovery, Adityanath directed the ADG Agra Zone Ajay Anand to prepare a blue-print for the security of the Vidhan Sabha and Secretariat Annexe, housing the CM’s office.

As a joint secretary on Central deputation, Anand was responsible for stepping up security of the parliament after the terrorist attack in 2001.

Anand, who was in Lucknow  on Saturday, Anand expressed displeasure over boundary wall of Vidhan Sabha which is quite low in comparison of the Parliament complex. He also checked all gates and gave necessary instructions for stepping up security.

The Assembly Secretariat has sent a formal letter to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for probing the recovery of PETN. Meanwhile, the ATS has taken over the Vidhan Sabha security and began the probe. It has sought permission to quiz Manoj Pandey, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Unchchaar in Rae Bareli, and 11 others sitting next to him.

The powder was recovered under the seat where Pandey was sitting on July 11 and 12. The ATS also recovered footage of total of 23 cameras installed in the Vidhan Bhavan complex. However, it could recover footage from only one out six cameras installed in the central hall. The camera in the Hall where Vidhan Sabha proceedings are held are on only when the session is in progress.

The ATS also grilled and recorded statements of 15 security officials and other staff members, including an assistant marshal, four engineers, two dog handlers, one AC operator and seven Class IV employees who serve water and tea inside central hall.

Meanwhile, the ATS has sanitised the entire Vidhan Saha complex pressing into bomb disposal and Dog squads and took finger prints of seat from where the PETN was recovered. The ATS has also sent the PETN powder to Delhi for examination in Central Forensic Lab.