A powerful explosion inside Srinagar’s Nowgam Police Station on Friday night left at least nine people dead and several injured, triggering a massive response from security agencies and forensic teams. The blast occurred around 11:20 pm while police personnel and forensic experts were examining a large cache of explosive material recently seized from Faridabad as part of an ongoing terror-module investigation.
According to officials, the explosives around 360 kilograms recovered from the rented house of an arrested doctor in Faridabad were being sampled in an open, secure area of the police station. Due to their unstable nature, extreme caution had been maintained over the last two days. Despite this, the material detonated, causing severe structural damage to the police station and impacting nearby residential buildings. Several houses in the vicinity reported shattered windows, cracked walls, and debris scattered across courtyards.
Emergency teams, including the J&K State Disaster Relief Force, rushed to the scene for rescue operations, rubble removal, and structural assessment. Throughout the night, injured personnel were shifted to various hospitals across Srinagar, where authorities are working to confirm the identities of the deceased. Security has been tightened around the area, with sniffer dogs and specialised units deployed to ensure there were no secondary hazards.
Senior officials including J&K Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, CRPF leadership, and the Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar visited the site early Saturday morning. The DGP stated that preliminary assessments indicate an accidental explosion during the handling of the volatile material, and urged the public not to engage in speculation. A formal probe is underway to determine the exact technical cause and assess procedural lapses, if any.
The blast comes weeks after threatening posters targeting security personnel were found in the Nowgam area and days after a deadly car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort, which was also linked to the same Faridabad-based terror module. Authorities are now examining whether the incidents share operational overlaps as part of a larger security review.
