7 killed as MASSIVE blast rips through police station in Srinagar’s Nowgam after…; its connected to Delhi Red Fort blast due to…

A powerful explosion ripped through the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Kashmir's Srinagar city on late Friday night killing at least seven people.

Srinagar blast: At least seven people were killed, while several others sustained critical injuries when a powerful explosion ripped through the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Kashmir’s Srinagar city on late Friday night.

According to a media reports, the blast was triggered when the police and other officials were collecting samples from a recently confiscated cache of explosive material, reportedly ammonium nitrate, which was used in Delhi Red Fort blast that killed 13 people on earlier this week.

As many as seven people, most of whom are believed to be police personnel and forensic officials, who were part of the team collecting samples from the explosives, have been killed in the blast, NDTV reported, citing sources.

The report said that casualties are likely to rise as at least five of the 27 injured are in a critical condition, adding that two Srinagar district administration officials, including a Naib Tehsildar, are also among the dead.

What triggered the blast?

According to the police, the “accidental” blast was triggered when a police team was extracting samples from a massive cache of  ammonium nitrate recently seized in the ‘white collar’ terror module case, and the explosive material is believed to have been used in the Delhi Red Fort blast that killed 13 people earlier this week.

In a statement, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said the explosion occurred at around 11:20 PM on Friday evening, during “a routine inspection and sampling process involving a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team, local police personnel, and a Tehsildar.”

Officials confirmed it was an “accidental detonation”, not a terrorist attack, stating that the blast was triggered by a large quantity of ammonium nitrate-based explosives stored at the station, which as recently confiscated by the cops in Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)-linked ‘white collar terror’ module case.

How many casualties?

Conflicting reports have emerged about the number of potential casualties in the explosion, with local media reporting that at least eight personnel have been killed, while the police has yet to issue any official confirmation. However, India.com could not independently verify details about any possible casualties or injuries in the incident.

According to a report by NDTV, at least seven people, most of whom are policemen and forensic team officials, are believed to have died, and casualties are expected to rise as five more people are critical.

As per officials, at least eight personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police were injured in the explosion, and have been rushed to the Indian Army’s 92 Base Hospital and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, adding that fire tenders and senior officials have reached the scene, and the area has been cordoned off.

No civilian fatalities or injuries were reported when last reports came in.

Explosion linked to Delhi Red Fort blast case

According to news agency PTI, the blast took place when the ammonium nitrate, part of the 360 kilograms of explosives recovered from the rented residence of arrested doctor Muzammil Ganaie, was being sampled as part of the ongoing investigation in the terror module case.

Small successive explosions prevented immediate rescue operations by the bomb disposal squad. It was not immediately clear if the entire 360 kg of explosives was stored at the police station, where the primary case for the terror module was registered, PTI reported.

Delhi blast and ‘white collar’ terror module case

The blast at Nowgam police station comes four days after a white Hyundai i20, reportedly driven by Dr Umar Nabi, a Kashmir-based doctor, exploded at a traffic signal near Delhi’s Red Fort, leaving 13 people dead and injuring several others.

Hours earlier, authorities had busted busted a inter-state “white-collar” terror module with links to terrorist outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and spanned across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. They seized 2,900 kilograms of explosive substances and arrested eight people, including three doctors linked to Al Falah University.