Nowgam blast: 9 dead, 29 injured after explosion at J&K police station – What we know

At least nine people were killed and 29 were injured after a blast at Nowgam Police Station in Jammu and Kashmir, which was investigating the “white-collar” Faridabad terror module, late Friday (Nov 14). The explosion occurred when personnel were extracting samples from the cache of explosives, the officials said.

During a press conference, DG J&K Police Nalin Prabhat said that the explosives were brought to the police station in Srinagar for further enquiry and examination, which had been going on for the last two days. Calling it an “accidental explosion”, he added that “any other speculation into the cause of the incident is unnecessary.”

The blast happened when a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team was collecting samples from the massive cache of explosives, mainly ammonium nitrate, which was seized from Haryana’s Faridabad. Revenue officials, station police personnel, and a local tailor who was stitching pouches for the samples were also present at the location when the tragic accident happened. DGP added that the police station building has suffered significant damage, while nearby buildings have also been affected.

The blast was so massive that it was heard up to 5 km away from the site of the incident and resulted in damage to houses, vehicles and other structures within a 1 km radius.

The area has been cordoned off to prevent the risk of any secondary explosions. Senior officials from the police, CRPF, and army arrived at the scene to assess the situation. Sanitisation of the entire area also taking place following the widespread dispersal of the explosive material in the vicinity.

Authorities had earlier seized nearly 2,900 kg of explosives after a network of doctors in Faridabad operating a terror module was busted by the J&K police. After arresting Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie and Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, agencies recovered a large quantity of explosives.

Early Friday, authorities demolished the house of the prime suspect, Dr Umar Un Nabi, who was driving the Hyundai i20 that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort, killing 13. He is said to have bought fertilisers from Haryana’s Nuh, which were then used to make ammonium nitrate for the explosives.

As the investigation continues, information has emerged that the three doctors linked to Faridabad’s Al Falah University were using a Swiss communication app called Threema. Umar, Muzammil and Adeel were in constant touch through the messaging app to plan their terror activities.

Dr Shaheen Shahid, another key suspect linked to the terror module, was reportedly planning to flee the country and was applying for a visa before she was nabbed by the authorities.