Srinagar: A major accidental blast tore through the Nowgam police station on Friday night, killing nine people and injuring 27 while officials were examining explosives seized in the ‘white-collar’ terror module case, authorities said on Saturday.
The victims included three Forensic Science Laboratory staffers, two Revenue Department officials including a Naib Tehsildar, two police photographers, one State Investigation Agency member and a tailor.
Officials said the explosion occurred as personnel were handling explosive material transported from Faridabad, Haryana. The blast was triggered by the unstable nature of the chemicals, they added.
The material was part of the 360 kg cache recovered from the rented accommodation of arrested accused Dr. Muzammil Ganaie. The bodies have been shifted to the Police Control Room in Srinagar.
Twenty-four police personnel and three civilians are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the city.
The powerful blast shattered the silence of the night, severely damaging the police station building. A series of smaller secondary explosions delayed the bomb disposal squad’s rescue efforts.
While some of the seized explosives were stored at the police forensic laboratory, a large portion of the 360 kg haul had been kept at the Nowgam police station, where the primary case was registered.
The terror module came to light in mid-October after posters threatening police and security personnel surfaced on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam. Treating it as a serious threat, Srinagar Police registered a case on October 19 and set up a special investigation team.
A detailed frame-by-frame analysis of CCTV footage led to the arrest of the first three suspects — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid — all previously booked in stone-pelting cases and seen pasting the posters.
Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned preacher from Shopian, who allegedly supplied the posters and is believed to have radicalised the doctors using his access to the medical community.
The trail then led to Al Falah University in Faridabad, where police arrested Dr. Ganaie and Dr. Shaheen Sayeed. From there, investigators recovered the massive quantity of chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sulphur.
Investigators say the module was operated by a core group of three doctors — Dr. Ganaie, Umar Nabi (who drove the explosives-laden car that blew up near the Red Fort on November 10), and Muzzaffar Rather, who is currently absconding.
The involvement of the eighth arrested suspect, Dr. Adeel Rather — brother of the absconding Muzzaffar Rather — from whose possession an AK-56 rifle was recovered, is still being probed.
