Massive accidental blast at Srinagar police station; casualties feared, terror angle ruled out

Srinagar, Nov 15 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A massive accidental blast occurred inside a police station in J&K’s Srinagar district on Saturday, and sources said that casualties are feared.

The blast occurred inside the Nowgam police station of Srinagar district. The impact of the blast was so massive that buildings around the site shook as glass shattered all around.

The loud bang of the blast was heard in areas 5-10 Kms away from Nowgam area.

Although official confirmation of the cause of blast and the damage caused is still awaited, sources told IANS that the blast took place when a police team was sampling the ammonium nitrate explosive recovered from the interstate white collar terror module in Faridabad.

While top sources have ruled out any terror attack, it is feared that there could be casualties due to the accidental explosion caused while sampling the explosive material.

Top sources said there are nine injuries among the police personnel who were present when the explosive sampling was underway.

A number of vehicles parked inside the police station caught fire due to the massive explosion and fire tenders were dousing the flames as ambulances rushed to the police station to evacuate the injured policemen to the hospital.

It must be mentioned that 2900 Kg ammonium nitrate was recovered by J&K police when it busted the white collar terror module in Faridabad in coordination with the Haryana police.

While Dr. Adil Rather and Dr Muzammil Ganaie were arrested, third terror accomplice, Dr Umar Nabi had evaded arrest. He was later killed in a car blast near the Red Fort, in which several civilians were killed and many others were injured.

A lady doctor from Lucknow, Shaheen Shahid was also arrested after an assault rifle was recovered from her car. The arrest of two over ground workers (OGWs) of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit led to the busting of the terror module.

—