At least eight police officers were killed after an accidental explosion ripped through the Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night. The incident occurred while the cops were inspecting samples of explosive materials seized earlier in Faridabad as part of an investigation into a "white-collar" terror module case, according to officials.
Reports indicate several others sustained serious injuries in the blast.
The 360kg of explosive material was brought to Nowgam from Faridabad by the Jammu and Kashmir police. It was recovered from the rented residence of Dr Muzammil Shakeel, one of the eight individuals arrested so far in connection with this ongoing terror module investigation.
It was not immediately clear if the entire 360kg of explosives was being stored at the police station, where the "white-collar" terror module case was officially registered on October 19.
The blast damaged several vehicles parked within the premises. Several fire engines were rushed to the spot, and all access roads to the police station were temporarily closed.
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Authorities had recently confiscated approximately 2,900kg of ammonium nitrate, which included the 360kg mentioned earlier, and other materials used for making explosives from two rooms rented by Muzammil in Dhauj and Fatehpur Taga villages, on the outskirts of Faridabad.
The 35-year-old doctor from Pulwama, in Jammu and Kashmir, was a faculty member at Al-Falah Medical College. He was arrested two weeks ago, following a probe into radical posters that appeared in the Kashmir Valley. His interrogation led the Jammu and Kashmir Police to the alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad network operating in Faridabad, and also to the recovery of explosive materials.
Investigators suspect that this entire operation was managed by a central group of three doctors, including Umar un Nabi, who drove the explosives-laden car that detonated near the Red Fort on November 10 killing 13 people, and Muzzaffar Rather, who is absconding.