In a tragic incident late on Friday night, an accidental explosion ripped through the premises of the Nowgam Police Station on the outskirts of Srinagar, in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, killing four individuals and injuring 27 others, according to officials. Hindustan Times+2The New Indian Express+2

The explosion occurred while police and forensic personnel were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives that had been seized in far‑away Faridabad, Haryana, during the investigation of a so‑called “white‑collar terror” module. The material being processed at the station was part of the 360 kg of explosive substances recovered from a rented residence used by one of the accused in the probe. India Today+2The New Indian Express+2

The Incident

According to official accounts, the blast took place late on Friday as the officers and forensic staff at Nowgam were handling the confiscated explosive material. The explosion claimed four lives — all unidentified so far — and resulted in 27 injuries, the majority of which are from police personnel and forensic officials. Hindustan Times+1
Ambulance and police sirens cut through the quiet of the night as the injured were rushed to various hospitals in Srinagar. Small successive detonations in the aftermath of the initial blast hampered immediate rescue efforts, delaying entry by the bomb disposal squad into the building. The Times of India+1
While some part of the explosives had reportedly been transferred to a forensic lab, a major portion of the 360 kg of material was still in the police station compound — where the primary case for the terror module had been registered. Hindustan Times+1

Background of the Seizure

The explosives came from a large‑scale probe into a radicalised network of professionals believed to be orchestrating terror activities. The trail began when threatening posters surfaced in mid‑October across Bunpora, Nowgam, targeting police and security forces. In response, the local police registered a case on 19 October and formed a dedicated investigation team. The New Indian Express+1
Frame‑by‑frame analysis of CCTV footage enabled investigators to identify three youths — Arif Nisar Dar (alias “Sahil”), Yasir‑ul‑Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar (alias “Shahid”) — who had prior stone‑pelting cases and were seen pasting the posters. Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic‑turned‑Imam from Shopian, who is believed to have supplied the posters and radicalised the doctors involved in the module. The New Indian Express+1
The investigation eventually traced the network to Al Falah University in Faridabad, where doctors Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie and Shaheen Sayeed were arrested. It was from their rented residence that the cache of explosive chemicals — including ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sulphur — was seized. The New Indian Express+1 Investigators believe the core module was run by a trio of doctors: Muzammil Ganaie, Umar Nabi and Muzzaffar Rather — with another, Adeel Rather (brother of the absconding Rather), also under investigation after an AK‑56 rifle was seized from his possession. The New Indian Express+1

Implications and Response

The scale of the explosion and the nature of the material underline serious lapses in storage and handling protocols for seized explosives. Authorities are now probing how such a large amount of high‑hazard explosive material — part of a terror‐linked haul — was stored within a police station and used for forensic sampling without triggering a catastrophic failure.
The union territory’s police and forensic agencies face intense scrutiny over their chain‑of‑custody, storage safeguards, and the sequence of steps used for analysis. The blast also raises concerns about whether the storage location was appropriate, given adjacent structures, personnel proximity, and the potential for successive detonations.

Wider Terror Module Investigation

This explosion comes at a time when India’s security agencies are dealing with a multi‑state terror network involving radicalised professionals and academic institutions. A few days earlier, a blast near the Red Fort in Delhi had killed at least 13 people and wounded many others — and investigators believe it may be linked to the same module under probe. The Times of India+1
On the Faridabad side of the investigation, some reports indicate that officers recovered up to 2,900 kg of explosive and related materials in the Dhauj area near Al Falah University. Over 800 police personnel were deployed in search operations in one of the largest anti‑terror sweeps seen in the region. The Times of India+1
Security agencies now suspect that what is being termed a “white‑collar terror ecosystem” — involving professionals, students, radicalised doctors, and other white‑collar personnel — may have been functioning across states, with logistical bases and safe‑houses beyond the immediate Kashmir region. Wikipedia+1

What Happened Next

Following the blast, senior police officials and bomb‑disposal teams cordoned off the Nowgam station area. Rescue work continued though successive detonations slowed entry into the building. The four deceased bodies were transferred to the Police Control Room in Srinagar, and hospitals admitted at least 24 police personnel and three civilians among the injured. Hindustan Times+1
Investigators are expected to map precisely which explosive components ignited, how the storage layout permitted the blast, whether the sampling environment met safety norms, and how the chain of evidence and storage was handled. Meanwhile, the terror investigation that led to the stash is being fast‑tracked in light of this incident.

Looking Ahead

The incident is likely to prompt a comprehensive review of how explosive evidence is handled in police stations and forensic labs, especially when linked to terror modules. Officials must examine whether standard operating procedures for high‑risk material were followed and whether storage sites meet blast‑mitigation standards.
For the broader terror probe, this explosion adds urgency: it underscores the danger of large caches that may remain in limbo in police stations or labs and hence pose internal threats. It also sharpens the focus on the professional radicalisation angle — doctors, academics and students — and cross‐border funding or support networks.
At a political and security‑policy level, the death of law‑enforcement personnel so engaged in anti‑terror work may lead to demands for accountability, enhanced protective protocols, and a crackdown on similar networks. The Kashmir region, still under heavy security focus, will now face heightened oversight and possibly stricter inter‐state coordination regarding movement, storage and analysis of seized terror material.