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Investigators still trying to ascertain cause of Nowgam police station blast
A police officer privy to details said that all the eyewitnesses have died on the spot, especially those who were close to the material during the Nowgam police station blast
The investigators are still trying to figure out what led to the lethal blast inside the Nowgam police station last week that killed nine people, including naib tehsildar and inspector of the SIA, and left 32 persons, including three civilians injured.
Even dozens of houses in the neighborhood of the blast side, including some 500 to 700 metres away, were damaged and the explosion was heard by 70% of people across the city.
The police station is housed in migrant property and is inside a residential area. Officials say that at the time of blast--11.20pm--nine persons, including revenue, SIA and forensic officials, along with two locals and a tailor, were present near the explosives which were recovered from Faridabad. They were collecting the samples when the accidental blast took place. The explosives were places in the courtyard.
The station house officer who sustained injuries was inside the police station when the blast happened. Some other staff members also sustained injuries during the accident.
Soon after the blast, Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha ordered magisterial probe into the incident.
A police officer privy to details said that all the eyewitnesses have died on the spot, especially those who were close to the material. “We are still trying to find out what actually led to this massive explosion,” he said, adding that for explosion you need a detonator. “The investigators are trying to find what was the cause of explosion.” He said almost all those who sustained injuries were either inside police station or at a distance. “The injured policemen are still in shock and don’t know how the blast took place.”
At the time of blast around 2,900 Kilograms of IED making material (including explosives, chemicals, reagents, inflammable material, electronic circuits, batteries, wires, remote control, timers and metal sheets etc) were placed inside the premises of the police station, including ammonium nitrate-- a highly flammable reagent. “Those who could have told the police what actually happened died on the spot and injured were all either inside or at distance from the blast. Still the teams are trying to find out the cause of this massive blast,” said another officer adding that since the material was huge and in numerous bags there is possibility some module members had concealed a detonator circuit inside the explosive which got triggered when samples were being collected. “Everything is a matter of investigation.”
At the time of the blast 40 to 50 people were inside the police station and within minutes the rescue teams had arrived on the spot to extinguish the fire. The special teams of NIA, FSL and other agencies have already closely examined the blast site and sealed it, besides collecting samples.
Even civilians and officials who were killed in this explosion had told their families that they are involved in a “risky job” of handling the samples.
J&K director general of police, who held a press conference the next day after the explosion, described it as an “accidental blast.”
“A huge quantity of explosive substances, chemicals and reagents were also recovered from Faridabad. 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 going on for the past two days, which means yesterday and day before, by the FSL team. Due to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, the sampling process, the handling was being done with extreme caution, with utmost caution by the FSL team. However, unfortunately, during this course, last night around 11.20 pm, an accidental explosion has taken place. Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary, the LG had said, adding: “One personnel of SIA, three personnel of the FSL team, two crime scene photographers, two revenue officials who were basically part of the magistrate’s team, one tailor who was associated with the team lost their lives. In addition, 27 police personnel, two revenue officials and three civilians from the adjacent areas have received injuries.”
Leaders demand accountability
Political leaders are also demanded accountability. J&K chief minister and other political leaders who visited the families of those killed and injured sought accountability. Chief minister Omar Abdullah said that people should also get answers over the November 14 blast, where some of the explosives transported from Faridabad were being sampled. “Many innocent lives were lost in this incident and many are injured. Investigation has started on how and why this happened. I hope people get the answers. How much quantity of explosives was brought here, how were they transported and stored, and how they were dealt with, we will slowly get answers to these questions, “ he said.
MP Srinagar Aga Ruhullah asked why such a sensitive material was brought into residential areas and handled unprofessionally. “This is a big security lapse and accountability should be fixed as we lost nine lives in this blast which has been described as an accidental blast.”
PDP leader Iltija Mufti said the blast has raised many questions. “They had kept around 3,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate and other material. Even my police guards told me without an IED this explosion wasn’t possible which needs to be probed. Also they were doing sealing from past three days. They brought a tehsildar who had no professional expertise in handling such cases. Why weren’t proper FSL teams brought there so that also needs an investigation,” she said.
