J-K forms high-level panel to probe blast at Nowgam police station where explosives seized from Faridabad were stored

Police reiterated that the explosion was an accident that took place while officials were taking samples of the seized explosives-making material

J&K Police have formed a high-level committee to probe the Nowgam police station blast, reiterating that it was an accidental explosion caused by unstable chemicals seized during a terror-module raid.

The incident killed nine people and injured 29 while officials were collecting forensic samples. (PTI Photo)

Days after nine people died in an explosion at the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said a high-level committee is investigating the incident.

J&K’s Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat, had earlier said that the blast was “accidental” and caused by the “unstable and sensitive nature” of the chemicals that were stored in the police station after being seized during an operation in Haryana’s Faridabad. The chemicals were part of almost 3,000 kg of explosives-making material recovered by the J&K Police during raids against a terror module that is suspected to be linked with the November 10 blast near the Red Fort in Delhi.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the J&K Police reiterated that the blast was accidental. Police said that on November 16, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Home Department) Chandraker Bharti to look into the incident. The committee also includes Kashmir Zone Inspector General V K Birdi, Srinagar District Magistrate Akshay Labroo, and a senior scientist from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Government of India.

On November 14, at least nine people were killed and 29 were injured in a massive explosion that rocked the Nowgam police station.

The explosion occurred when a police team, along with a magistrate and forensic officials, was taking samples from the explosives-making material recovered from Faridabad.

Also Read | Nowgam police station blast: How were explosives transported and stored? Was protocol followed?

The Nowgam police station is at the centre of the investigation that led to the unravelling of what is suspected to be an “inter-state” Jaish-e-Mohammad terror module.

On November 15, the J&K DGP said, “During the investigation in FIR number 162…, a huge quantity of explosive substances, chemicals and reagents were recovered from Faridabad on 9 and 10 November.”

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This recovery, he said, was kept in the open area of the police station. “As part of the procedure, the samples of the recovery had to be forwarded for further forensic and chemical examination. On account of the voluminous nature of the recovery, this process was being carried out for the past two days… by the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) team,” Prabhat said.

The police chief also said any speculation into the cause of the incident was “unnecessary”.

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