Srinagar, an accidental explosion inside the Nowgam Police Station on Friday claimed about 9 lives and left 30 others injured. The blast occurred when a forensic team was inspecting seized ammonium nitrate inside the police station, officials confirmed.
The police station has been at the centre of a major investigation that recently led to the unravelling of a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) interstate terror module. As part of the probe, three doctors—believed to be core members of the module—were arrested in Faridabad, Haryana, and Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A fourth operative, Umar Nabi, accused of carrying out the Red Fort blast, remains absconding.
The investigation began in October, when JeM-related posters surfaced in Nowgam. What initially appeared to be a minor local issue soon expanded into a large-scale operation stretching hundreds of kilometres beyond the Valley.
During raids linked to the accused, police recovered over 350 kg of ammonium nitrate, part of a staggering 2,900 kg of suspected explosive material that also included potash, phosphorous, reagents, inflammable substances, electronic circuits, batteries, wires, remote controls, timers and metal sheets. A portion of the seized material had been brought to the Nowgam Police Station for forensic examination.
It was during this inspection that the accidental blast took place.
Emergency teams rushed to the scene, and the injured were shifted to hospitals, several of them in critical condition. Authorities have ordered a high-level inquiry into the circumstances that led to the explosion and whether safety protocols were followed during the handling of the material.
Security has been heightened across the district even as forensic experts continue their assessment of the blast site.
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