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Kashmir valley mourns as victims of Nowgam blast laid to rest
A blast at Nowgam police station killed nine, including six policemen, and injured 32. Authorities promise support for victims' families and compensation for damages.
As the bodies of the nine policemen, civilians and a revenue official killed in the Nowgam police station blast were carried back to their homes on Saturday, a pall of gloom descended on various localities across Kashmir.
Among the nine dead were six policemen — State Investigation Agency (SIA) inspector Israr Ul Haq of Kupwara, selection grade constables Javaid Mansoor Rather and Arshid Ahmad Shah (both crime branch photographers), selection grade constable Aijaz Afzal Mir, and constables Mohammad Amin Mir and Showkat Ahmad Bhat (all three working with the Forensic Science Laboratory).
Naib tehsildar Muzaffar Ahmad Khan, chowkidar of the area Suhail Ahmad Rather and Mohammad Shafi Parray, a tailor, were the other three victims.
“Israr ul Haq was not only a senior police officer, but a village neighbour who was ready to help anyone, any time. In him, we have lost our closest friend,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, his neighbour, who was among the hundreds of mourners gathered at Haq’s funeral in Drugmulla.
At Soibough Budgam, a large number of locals participated in the funeral of naib tehsildar Muzaffar Ahmad Khan. “He was working at Narbal and recently got transferred. We never knew, it will become his last place of posting,” said one of his relatives.
Neighbours of victim Mohammad Shafi Parray, who ran a tailoring shop at Wanabal, said he was helping the police pack the material. “For the past two days, he had been in the police station, along with his sewing machine. His family was waiting for his return, when the blast took place on Friday night,” they said, adding that he was only 47 years old and the family’s sole breadwinner and it’s now the government’s responsibility to get this family rehabilitated. Parray is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, along with top police and administration officials, laid wreaths on the caskets at the Police Control Room before they were transported to the victims’ native places.
Sinha also visited the Ujala Cygnus Hospital and the SMHS Hospital to enquire about the people injured in the blast.
A massive blast occurred late on Friday night when authorities were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives confiscated in the Faridabad “white-collar terror module” case and stored on the premises of the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar. Apart from the nine casualties, the blast also left 32 others injured, and severely damaged the police station building and nearby structures.
CM Omar Abdullah promises compensation for damaged buildings
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the government will compensate for damages caused to nearby structures by the accidental blast at the Nowgam police station.
Abdullah said the government stood firmly with the victims’ families and will provide every possible support to them. “The chief minister has assured that the government stands firmly with the families who lost their loved ones in the tragic Nowgam police station explosion and will provide every possible support to them. He has also directed health minister Sakina Itoo to ensure the best treatment for the injured and assured that the damaged structures will be duly compensated,” read a post on his official X handle.
Farooq calls for thorough probe in material’s handling
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah called for a thorough and independent investigation into the blast, saying that “mistakes” in the initial handling of the explosive may have contributed to the tragedy.
Speaking to ANI in Srinagar, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister criticised the manner in which the explosive material was dealt with by local authorities, stressing that those with proper expertise should have been consulted beforehand.
“This is our mistake. Those who understand this explosive better, we should have talked to them first about how to deal with it instead of trying to handle it ourselves. You saw the result, nine people lost their lives. So much damage was caused to the houses there,” he said.
Abdullah also linked the fallout of the Nowgam explosion to the atmosphere of suspicion that Kashmiri residents were currently facing across the country following the recent blast outside Red Fort in New Delhi.
