Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 15: Nine people were killed and 32 others were injured after a huge pile of confiscated explosives stored at a police station in Nowgam near Jammu and Kashmir’s 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.
The injured were rushed to the Indian Army’s 92 Base Hospital and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat said 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 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 told reporters.
It was the Nowgam police that cracked the case of the terror Jaish-e-Mohammed posters in various locations of the area that led to the unravelling of the “Faridabad module” that was believed to be planning serial bomb blasts across the country. These posters exposed the terror module in which radicalised highly-qualified professionals were involved. The discovery led to the recovery of massive explosive material and the arrest of several terror doctors.
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 Delhi blast that claimed 13 lives earlier this week. When the police scanned the CCTV footage of areas where the Jaish posters were put up, they identified Rather, who worked at the Government Medical College in Anantnag till October last year before moving to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested soon after, and an assault rifle was also recovered from his locker in the Government Medical College.
The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered a probe into the explosion in the police station. In a statement on the incident, Union Home Ministry joint secretary Prashant Lokhande said the cause of the explosion was yet to be ascertained even though the recovered explosives were being forwarded for forensic examination per standard operating procedure. The transportation of explosives was being done in the past two days, he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir government also announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh for the family of each of the deceased in the accidental blast in Nowgam police station. The compensation will be provided from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Those severely injured will get ₹1 lakh each, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on his official X account. “As a mark of solidarity and immediate succour, the government has announced ex gratia relief from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund at ₹10 lakh for each deceased and ₹1 lakh for those severely injured,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured that the Government would provide every possible support to the families of the victims who lost their lives in the Nowgam Police Station explosion. CM Abdullah has directed Jammu and Kashmir Education and Health Minister Sakina Itoo to ensure the best treatment for the injured, and assured that the damaged structures will be duly compensated.”, an official statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office read.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah today called for a thorough and independent investigation into the Nowgam police station blast, saying that “mistakes” in the initial handling of the explosive may have contributed to the tragedy.
According to reports, the explosives that were recovered from Faridabad in Haryana were transported to Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir by Tata 407 mini trucks by road in air-tight containers over the past two days, a senior government official said. The explosives were being packed in small bags and were to be transported to Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) in Jammu when the “accidental explosion” occurred on November 14 at 11.22 pm, the official said.
“The recovery was kept securely in the open area of the police station,” Mr Lokhande said. “All the agencies involved in the investigation are working together in a coordinated and scientific way,” he said. As part of standard and prescribed procedure, the recovered chemical and explosives samples were being forwarded for further forensic and chemical examination, the official said.
Because of voluminous recovery, the said process was continually attended for about last 2 days by following the standard operating procedure, he added. The building of Police station has received severe damages, besides those buildings surrounding the Police Station have also been damaged and the cause of the accident is being investigated, he said.
Meanwhile, the investigators looking into the Delhi blast said the terror suspects being probed in connection with the 10/11 Delhi blast used a special method called ‘dead drop’ emails to communicate. This is how the arrested doctors, the investigators believe, planned their terror activities. The doctors used a shared email account to communicate among themselves and with others, sources said. They typed their plans in the drafts folder, and others logged in to read them, they added. The emails were never sent, making it hard to trace the digital footprint. This method is known as the ‘dead drop’ email technique, often used by terror and spy networks.
Other apps like Threema and Telegram and several other untraceable platforms were also used by them for communication purposes to keep their activities hidden and safe from surveillance, sources said.
