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'Hope no Operation Sindoor happens, nothing came out of it': Farooq Abdullah after Nowgam blast
The former Jammu and Kashmir CM said that the manner in which the explosive material was dealt with by local authorities in Nowgam was “our mistake".
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that “nothing” came out of Operation Sindoor and called for India and Pakistan to improve their relationship.
His remarks came after an accidental blast in the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar killed at least 9 people, including police officers, on Friday night. The blast occurred while officers were sampling the explosive material seized after the “white collar” terror module was busted in Haryana's Faridabad earlier this month.
"I hope no such thing (Operation Sindoor) will happen. Nothing came out of it (Operation Sindoor). Our people died. Our borders were compromised. I hope both nations improve their relations. That is the only way. I want to repeat what Vajpayee Ji said, friends can be changed, but neighbours cannot," Abdullah told news agency ANI, apparently referring to the terror module and the recent Delhi blast.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that the manner in which the explosive material was dealt with by local authorities was “our mistake". He stressed 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.
The Nowgam blast
Nine people were killed and 32 injured in an accidental blast at the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar on Friday night when police and forensic experts were extracting samples from a cache of explosives recovered from Faridabad, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Nalin Prabhat said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Prabhat said a huge quantity of explosive substances, chemicals and reagents were recovered from the terror module busted in Faridabad on November 10.
“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 Friday and the day before by the forensic science lab team. Due to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, the sampling process and the handling was being conducted with utmost caution. Unfortunately, during this course, around 11.20 PM on Friday, an accidental explosion took place. Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary,” the DGP said.
He said the nine killed comprised a special investigation team (SIA) personnel of the J&K Police, three members of the FSL team, two crime scene photographers, two revenue officials who were part of the magistrate’s team, and a tailor associated with the team.
The 32 injured included 27 policemen, two revenue officers and three civilians from the area adjoining Nowgam police station.
