The powder, an explosive (150 gm of PETN) was found in a packet under the chair of the Opposition's leader during an ongoing session of the assembly. 500 gm of PETN would be enough to blow the whole Assembly off.
“We will file a closure report in the designated court this week,” said a senior NIA official on the condition of anonymity.
The NIA decided to close the case after a Hyderabad laboratory concluded that the alleged ‘explosive’ was silica powder (silicon oxide), which is mainly used as a filler in glass work.
“But that was not all. We also recorded statements of more than 70 witnesses, reviewed the video footage of close circuit cameras installed in UP assembly, and also went through the register of maintenance work taken up in the building in the last few years to see how the powder reached inside the assembly complex,” added the official.