A powerful explosion at Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar killed nine people and injured 27 others late Friday night, after a cache of explosives confiscated from the recently busted ‘white-collar’ terror module detonated accidentally, officials confirmed on Saturday.
Among the dead were three forensic science experts, two Revenue Department officers including a Naib Tehsildar, two police photographers, one officer from the State Investigation Agency (SIA), and a tailor working at the site. The injured, including 24 police personnel and three civilians, were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Officials said the blast occurred while a team was extracting samples from explosive material brought from Faridabad, Haryana, where a massive cache linked to the terror module had been recovered earlier. Preliminary reports suggest the explosion was caused by the unstable nature of the chemicals, which included ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur.
The explosives were part of 360 kilograms of material seized from the rented residence of Dr. Muzammil Ganaie, one of the accused arrested in connection with the terror plot. The impact of the blast severely damaged the police station building, while smaller successive explosions hampered rescue operations by the bomb disposal squad for several hours.
According to officials, part of the recovered explosives had been sent to a forensic lab, but a major portion remained stored at the Nowgam police station, where the main case against the module was registered.
The terror network came to light in mid-October after posters threatening police and security forces appeared in Bunpora, Nowgam. Acting on intelligence inputs, Srinagar Police launched an investigation on October 19, leading to the arrest of Arif Nisar Dar, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar, all with previous records of stone-pelting.
Their interrogation exposed a radicalisation network led by Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned preacher from Shopian, who allegedly influenced medical professionals to join the module. The probe then extended to Al Falah University in Faridabad, where Dr. Ganaie and Dr. Shaheen Sayeed were arrested, and the massive stockpile of explosives was discovered.
Investigators believe the terror module was orchestrated by a core group of doctors — Dr. Muzammil Ganaie, Dr. Umar Nabi (who died driving the car that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10), and Dr. Muzzaffar Rather, who remains absconding.
The role of another accused, Dr. Adeel Rather, the brother of the absconding doctor from whom an AK-56 rifle was recovered, is still under investigation.
Authorities have launched a high-level inquiry into the Nowgam explosion to determine how the seized material was stored and handled, even as Kashmir mourns the deadliest blast in Srinagar in recent years.
