After recovery of explosives, UP police enhances security of Assembly

Uttar Pradesh police today put in place the anti-sabotage measures apart from sounding a high alert as the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) started recording statements of employees of the Assembly in connection with the recovery of PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) explosive.
The officials of the ATS questioned and recorded the statements of 15 people who were present or on duty in the premises of the Assembly at the time of recovery of PETN on July 12, ATS Inspector General (IG) Aseem Arun said.
About 150 grams of PETN was found wrapped in a paper close to the seat of the Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Choudhary in the Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said yesterday, describing it as a "dangerous terror conspiracy".

As per the directives of the Chief Minister, all necessary security measures were looked into and a mock drill of the security will be undertaken tomorrow along with all the security agencies, the IG said.
All necessary measures will be put into place so as to ensure that there is no security breech in future, he said.
Those who were questioned included the assistant marshals, technical staff and security personnel, he said.

Besides, the ATS also looked into the details of the CCTV footage of 23 cameras of which 12 are in the Assembly and is also studying the Doordarshan recording, he said.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told PTI that all the anti-sabotage measures have been put in place, apart from sounding a high alert.
"As immediate measures, Quick Response Teams, ATS and additional PAC personnel have been deployed in the UP Legislature Building. Apart from this, security audit of the entire Assembly complex is being done," Kumar said.
"An integrated security plan is being deliberated upon, which will ensure effective liasion with Sachivalaya Suraksha Dal," he said.
Entry on old passes has been disallowed, and people with bonafide passes are only allowed to enter the precincts of UP Legislature Complex.

Allaying fears over reports of detection of another white powdery substance yesterday while conducting intensive checking, the ADG (Law & Order) said, "It was a packet containing magnesium sulphate, which is used as drying agent in packing material. The ATS has taken the packet in its custody."
Later, IG ATS Aseem Arun said, "About 75 grams of Magnesium sulphate was found. It is non-explosive ..If required we will send it for examination."
The ADG said, "As many as 109 close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been made functional, so as to increase the vigil. After this the necessary equipments such as boom barriers may also be installed to enhance the security."

Meanwhile, ATS sources informed that three teams of ATS will remain posted in the UP Legislature Complex.