SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered a thorough inquiry into the accidental explosion at a police station in Nowgam in Kashmir Valley that killed at least nine people and injured 32.
The explosion occurred when a huge pile of confiscated explosives stored at a police station in Nowgam near Srinagar went off on Friday night.
Most of those killed were policemen and forensic team officials, who were examining the explosives. Two officials from the Srinagar administration also died in the explosion. The blast occurred while they were handling the explosive material that had been brought from Faridabad in Haryana recently.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat called the explosion “accidental” and said that any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary.
The Centre said that the blast that occurred inside the Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir late on Friday night was triggered during a forensic sampling procedure. At least nine people were killed in the incident, with the toll likely to rise.
“Yesterday, at around 11.20 pm, an unfortunate accidental explosion took place inside the Nowgam police station. During the investigation of a terror module, a huge cache of explosive substances and chemicals had been recovered and kept securely in an open area of the police station,” Prashant Lokhande, Joint Secretary (J&K Division), Ministry of Home Affairs, said on Saturday.
The Nowgam police station is at the centre of the investigation that led to the unravelling of a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) interstate terror module last week.
The probe into posters related to JeM appearing in the area led the state police to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, exposing the module.
As part of the raids to bust the module, the J-K Police had recovered more than 350 kg of ammonium nitrate.
This was part of the roughly 2,900 kg of suspected explosive material, which also included potash, phosphorus, reagents, flammable materials, electronic circuits, batteries, wires, remote controls, timers, and metal sheets.
The recovery of explosive substance was part of the investigation into an active terror module registered under FIR 162/2025.
The seized substances had been kept in the open yard of the Nowgam Police Station and were in the process of sorting, sealing, and documentation for forensic analysis.
Specialists had followed standard operating procedures consistently for two days because of the volatile nature of the material. The sudden reaction in the chemicals, despite precautions, is believed to have triggered the accidental detonation.
Soon after the incident, some Pakistan-backed online handles tried to claim responsibility for a proxy outfit.
The J&K Police dismissed the claims as “false, mischievous, and aimed at creating confusion”, reiterating that it was purely an accident and not related to a terror strike.
Jammu and Kashmir police chief Nalin Prabhat said that a State Investigation Agency official, three Forensic Science Laboratory officials, two crime wing officials, two revenue officials, and a tailor who was associated with the team were among those killed.
He also said that 27 police personnel, two revenue officials and three civilians have received injuries.
“Owing to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, it was being handled with utmost caution. However, during the same, an accidental explosion took place at about 11:20 PM on Friday. Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary,” he said.
In October, one of the arrested doctors, Adeel Ahmad Rather, was seen putting up these posters that warned of big attacks on security forces and “outsiders” in Kashmir.
His arrest on October 27 uncovered a sinister network, which was later found to be behind the Red Fort blast in Delhi that claimed 13 lives earlier this week.
The investigation into the posters revealed a “white-collar terror ecosystem, involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers, operating from Pakistan and other countries”, the Jammu and Kashmir police said.