Around 150 grams of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) was found under Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Pandey seat during an ongoing session in the state assembly on Thursday evening.
LIVE updates: PETN found in UP Assembly, Yogi Adityanath says NIA must probe the incident
Though security personnel immediately reached the spot in the Vidhan Sabha and recovered the explosive, latest reports have said that the lives of over 400 MLAs, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Speaker HN Dixit had been under threat.
What is PETN?
This highly explosive organic compound has no odour making it difficult to detect it.Though PETN when dropped or ignited doesn't cause an explosion, it is very sensitive to shock and friction than other secondary explosives such as TNT.
PETN is often used in upper charges of detonators, in some land mines and shells and as the explosive core of detonation cord.
How dangerous is it
Though only 150 gms of the PETN was found, it was enough to cause a small scale damage had it been attached with a detonator and remote-controlled device.
"The packet of the explosive was found under the chair of the Opposition's leader. It was 150 gm of PETN. 500 gm of PETN is enough to blow the whole Assembly off. This shows the severity of the situation," said Yogi Adityanath
" I suggest that everybody present in the Assembly should be investigated by the police and that the NIA should investigate into the matter," he added.
