UP government dismisses former FSL Director, Scientific Officer

Lucknow, Dec 19: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday terminated the services of former Director of the Forensic Science Lab (FSL), an official said.

The services of Shyam Bihari Upadhyaya had been terminated "in public interest", said Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar.

Upadhyaya was Director of the FSL when a suspicious powder was found in the state assembly and he had erroneously termed it as PETN, a highly explosive chemical compound.

He was suspended on September 4, following a probe.

After a go-ahead from Governor Ram Naik, the state government has also issued dismissal order of FSL Scientific Officer Raghvendra Yadav.

Both officers have been given compulsory retirement and they would be eligible for three months' salary and other perks.

Earlier in the day, there were heated exchanges in the state assembly between the treasury and the opposition benches and the latter slammed the government over the incident.