Srinagar blast: 9 killed as Faridabad explosives go off at Jammu and Kashmir police station

At least nine people were killed and 29 others injured after a large stash of confiscated explosives stored at Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, detonated on Friday night, NDTV reported, citing sources.

Officials said the toll could rise, with five of the injured in critical condition.

“Most of those killed were policemen and forensic experts who were examining the confiscated explosives,” a senior official said.

Eyewitness videos and CCTV clips show the building engulfed in flames and thick smoke as emergency teams rushed to the scene.

Investigators probe possible causes

Officials told PTI the late-night blast occurred while investigators were collecting samples from a large cache of explosives linked to the recently uncovered “white-collar” terror module.

Police are examining two angles. “One possibility is accidental ignition of ammonium nitrate during sealing in the presence of a magistrate,” a senior officer said. “The other angle points to a possible terror strike,” PTI reported.

Around 350 kg of recovered explosives had been stored at the station, where the primary FIR in the terror module case was registered. While some chemicals had been sent to the forensic lab, most remained inside the building. The bodies of the victims have been moved to the Police Control Room in Srinagar.

Investigators are also examining whether a seized car inside the compound may have been rigged with an IED.

Injured hospitalised, area sealed off

The injured have been admitted to the Indian Army’s 92 Base Hospital and SKIMS, while senior police officials have cordoned off the area.

The blast comes just four days after a deadly car explosion in Delhi, which killed at least eight people in what authorities have described as a terror incident.

Security tightened

Security forces swept the compound with sniffer dogs as the area was sealed. The 350 kg stock of chemicals had originally been recovered from the rented Faridabad accommodation of Dr Muzzamil Shakeel Ganaie — one of eight arrests so far.

J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat held a hybrid security review across the Union Territory on Friday evening, days after the Red Fort car blast that killed at least 13 people. Investigators are now examining whether the two explosions could be linked.

How the arrests unravelled a terror module

According to India Today, the investigation began in mid-October after threatening posters surfaced across Nowgam. CCTV footage led police to three local residents — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid — all of whom had earlier been booked in stone-pelting cases.

Their interrogation led to the alleged mastermind, Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic-turned-preacher who is suspected of radicalising several doctors.

Investigators then tracked the network to Al Falah University in Faridabad, arresting doctors Muzammil Ganaie and Shaheen Sayeed. Huge quantities of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sulphur and other materials were recovered from rented premises linked to them — along with nearly 2,900 kg of additional chemicals tied to another Pulwama-based doctor.

In October, another accused, Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, was seen putting up posters threatening major attacks on security forces and “outsiders”. His arrest revealed a larger network later linked to the Red Fort blast.

According to officials, the poster probe exposed a “white-collar terror ecosystem involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers”.

Rather, who previously worked at Government Medical College Anantnag, was arrested soon after, and an assault rifle was recovered from his locker. His questioning brought investigators to Dr Muzammil Shakeel, whose Faridabad premises yielded nearly 3,000 kg of ammonium nitrate.

Hours after another arrest — that of Dr Shaheen Saeed — an explosives-laden car blew up at a red light near Delhi’s Red Fort, killing 13 people. The next day, the name of another doctor, Umar Nabi, surfaced. Sources believe Nabi, who drove the blast-hit Hyundai i20, may have panicked after the chemical seizures and attempted to relocate.

Investigators told NDTV the IED appeared to have been improperly assembled and may not have been fully armed.

A deeper network behind the blasts

Officials believe the module was being run by three doctors — Muzammil Ganaie (arrested), Umar Nabi (driver of the Red Fort car, still absconding), and Muzzaffar Rather (also absconding).

Adeel Rather, the eighth accused and brother of the absconding doctor, was arrested with an AK-56 rifle. His role remains under scrutiny.

Investigators say the Nowgam blast, the Red Fort car explosion and the chain of arrests point to an organised network of highly educated individuals operating under the guidance of foreign handlers — a plot now being pieced together by multiple agencies.