A blast occurred on Friday at Nowgam police station when forensic experts were extracting samples from a cache of explosives recovered from Faridabad. Nine people died in an explosion at the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar late Friday, an incident that authorities said was accidental but linked to a recent big explosives recovery by agencies in a terror module crackdown in Haryana’s Faridabad.
Among the nine killed were 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 blast occurred when forensic experts were extracting samples from a cache of explosives recovered from Faridabad, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Nalin Prabhat said on Saturday.
How did explosives from Faridabad reach J&K?
The explosives are part of the 2,900 kilogram-recovery security agencies made in raids that were part of a crackdown on a ‘white collar’ terror module, to which even the recent Delhi Red Fort blast suspect also was found to be linked. The Red Fort blast in Delhi that killed at least 10 people is linked to the case registered at Nowgam on October 19, after Jaish-e-Mohammed posters warning of a “spectacular attack” were found.
That probe led J&K Police to bust an inter-state JeM module in Haryana’s Faridabad and seize nearly 3,000kg of inflammable material, chemicals and reagents from two villages of Faridabad. Two clerics, including Shopian-based Irfan Wagay, and several doctors – most of them belonging to Al Falah University of Faridabad – were arrested in connection with the module.
During the investigation into the posters, police detained three individuals seen in CCTV footage and discovered they were former stone-pelters. Their questioning led to the name of cleric Irfan Wagay, the imam at the Chanpora mosque in Srinagar. Police found he was connected to the broader network of urban support cells of JeM and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).
Of the nearly 3,000 kg, 2,563 kg consignment of explosives was recovered from the house of Hafeez Mohammad Ishtiaq, a Mewat resident and imam at the Al Falah mosque in Faridabad’s Dhera Colony, on the morning of November 10. Follow-up raids led to the seizure of another 358 kg of explosive material along with detonators and timers.
Subsequently, police arrested Arif Nisar Dar, alias Sahil; Yasir-ul-Ashraf; Maqsood Ahmad Dar, alias Shahid – all from Nowgam; Zameer Ahmad Ahanger, alias Mutlasha, of Ganderbal; Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, alias Musaib, of Koil, Pulwama; and Dr Aadil Rather of Wanpora, Kulgam. JeM posters were also recovered from Wagay’s home.
During these security operations, Dr Umar un Nabi – also part of the module and employed as a medical practitioner at Al Falah Medical College – allegedly triggered the explosion in his car in heavy Red Fort traffic on the evening of November 10. The blast used the same type of material stockpiled in Faridabad.
