This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Forensic Lab Head Suspended For Identifying Quartz As Explosive Recovered From UP Assembly

When the NIA got it tested from CFSL, Hyderabad, it was found to be silicon oxide (Quartz) and not the dangerous explosive."
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

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 12 July.

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 28 February 2008, to 20 August 2012, Principal Secretary (Home) Kumar said.

Also on HuffPost India:

Unbelievably Racy Lingerie Off Delhi's Streets For Less Than ₹500

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.