9 killed, 27 injured in blast at JK police station while handling explosives seized in Faridabad

Srinagar: An accidental explosion happened at Nowgam police station in Srinagar, killing nine people and injuring 27 while authorities were extracting samples from a large quantity of explosives confiscated during the raid in Faridabad related to the 'white-collar' terror module case, officials said on Saturday.

Those killed in the incident that took place on Friday night were three people from Forensic Science Laboratory, two from Revenue department including a Naib Tehsildar, two police photographers, one member of State Investigation Agency and a tailor.

According to officials, the blast occurred when the personnel were handling the explosive material brought from Haryana's Faridabad. They also added that the blast took place due to the unstable nature of the chemicals used in the explosives. The material was part of the 360 kg of explosives recovered from the rented residence of arrested accused Dr Muzammil Ganaie, they said.

The bodies have been taken to the Police Control Room here.

At least 24 police personnel and three civilians have been admitted to various hospitals in the city, the officials said. The massive blast smashed the quiet of the night and damaged the police station building. Small successive explosions prevented immediate rescue operations by the bomb disposal squad.

While some of the explosives recovered have been kept at forensic lab of police, the major part of the 360 kg of explosives was stored at the police station, where the primary case for the terror module was registered.

Several Doctors were arretsed related to the case. Investigators believe the entire module was run by a core trio of doctors -- Ganaie, Umar Nabi (the driver of the explosives-laden car that exploded near the Red Fort on November 10) and Muzzaffar Rather (absconding).