Forensic Director Submits Misleading Report On Explosives In State Assembly, Suspended

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday suspended the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Lucknow over an allegedly "misleading" report which held that the suspicious substance recovered from the state Assembly was highly explosive PETN, an official said.

The state government has initiated a probe in the matter, he said. Director FSL, Shiv Bihari Upadhyay, has been suspended for allegedly giving a wrong, misleading, incomplete and un- confirmed report about the substance recovered in the state Assembly, Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said.

"Upadhyay got the substance recovered from the state Assembly examined and in the report it was held to be PETN positive. When the NIA got it tested from CFSL, Hyderabad, it was found to be silicon oxide (Quartz) and not the dangerous explosive," Kumar said. The "suspicious" substance had been recovered from the UP Assembly on July 12. Kumar added that Upadhyay had been suspended for allegedly getting the substance tested using an explosive detection kit whose usage date had expired in March 2016 itself.

Another charge against him was that it was tested by a person who was not an expert in the field, he added. Director, Vigilance, Hitesh Awasthi will probe the charges, the official said. There were also complaints against Upadhyay pertaining to irregularities during his tenure as the acting director of a laboratory in Patna, Bihar, from February 28, 2008 to August 20, 2012, Principal Secretary (Home) Kumar said.