Srinagar: An accidental blast at Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar claimed nine lives and injured 32 others. The explosion occurred while authorities were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives recently seized in connection with the ‘white-collar’ terror module case, officials said on Saturday.
According to the officials, the blast happened late Friday night, killing nine people and injuring 32 — mostly policemen and forensic officials.
The blast occurred while personnel were handling the explosive material that had been brought from Haryana’s Faridabad, they said.
The material, part of the 360 kilograms of explosives recovered from the rented residence of arrested doctor Muzammil Ganaie, was being sampled as part of the ongoing investigation, the officials said.
Nine bodies have been retrieved from the scene of the explosion, they said, adding that the deceased are yet to be identified.
The bodies have been taken to Police Control Room Srinagar.
At least 24 police personnel and three civilians were admitted to various hospitals in the city, the officials said.
The massive blast smashed the quiet of the night and damaged the police station building. The injured police personnel were rushed to various hospitals in the city.
Small successive explosions prevented immediate rescue operations by the bomb disposal squad.
While some of the explosives recovered have been kept at Forensic Lab of police, the major part of the 360 kg of explosives was stored at the police station, where the primary case for the terror module was registered.
The entire conspiracy was unravelled after the posters threatening police and security forces appeared on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam, in mid-October.
Treating the incident as a serious threat, the Srinagar police registered a case on October 19 and formed a dedicated team.
Meticulous, frame-by-frame analysis of CCTV footage led investigators to identify the first three suspects — arrested Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid. These three had cases of stone pelting registered against them, and they were seen pasting the posters.
Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned Imam (preacher) from Shopian, who supplied the posters and is believed to have radicalised the doctors using his easy access to the medical community.
The trail ultimately led the Srinagar police to Al Falah University in Faridabad, where they arrested Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed. It was here that the massive cache of chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur, was seized.
Investigators believe the entire module was run by a core trio of doctors — Muzammil Ganaie (arrested), Umar Nabi (driver of the car laden with explosives that exploded near the Red Fort on November 10) and Muzzaffar Rather (absconding) The role of the eighth arrested person, Dr Adeel Rather — the brother of the absconding Dr Muzzaffar Rather — from whom an AK-56 rifle was seized, is still under investigation.
