Srinagar: A massive explosion occurred late on Friday night at the Nowgam police station in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries among police and forensic personnel. The blast happened accidentally while a team was examining a substantial cache of explosive material recently seized in connection with a high-profile “white-collar terror module” case.
Initial reports from officials suggested around eight personnel were injured, but later sources confirmed a far higher casualty count. At least seven people were killed and 27 others were injured, many critically, in the powerful blast. The deceased included policemen and forensic team officials who were conducting the inspection, as well as two officials from the Srinagar civil administration, including a Naib Tehsildar. The injured were swiftly transported to the Indian Army’s 92 Base Hospital and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) for urgent medical care.
The tragic accident occurred during the sampling process of explosive material, reportedly a large quantity of ammonium nitrate, which had been confiscated in interstate raids. The material was linked to an ongoing investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police into a sophisticated terror network connected to the car bomb blast at Delhi’s Red Fort this week that killed 13 people.
The investigation, which originated with the appearance of pro-Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) posters in the Nowgam area in October, unravelled a sophisticated interstate terror module involving radicalised professionals, including medical doctors. This network, described by the police as a “white-collar terror ecosystem”, was allegedly involved in fundraising, logistics, and the procurement of arms and IED components.
The seized explosives, estimated to be close to 2,900 kilograms of various bomb-making materials, including a significant quantity of ammonium nitrate, were recovered during searches across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Specifically, 360 kilograms of explosive material was seized from the rented residence of Dr Muzzamil Ganaie, one of the arrested suspects in Faridabad. It was this seized material, brought to the Nowgam police station, that was being inspected at the time of the explosion.
The intensity of the accidental blast was immense, causing extensive damage inside the police station compound, destroying several parked vehicles, and shattering windowpanes in nearby residential areas. The explosion was so powerful it could be heard several kilometres away.
Senior police and civil administration officials immediately rushed to the scene, and the area was cordoned off. While some sources initially linked the blast to the explosives seized from the terror module, police officers later ruled out any external terror angle, confirming it was an accidental explosion that occurred during the forensic analysis and sampling of the materials being stored.
