Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said the Jammu and Kashmir Police have achieved a major breakthrough by busting a pan-India terror module, preventing a series of planned attacks across the country.
Addressing a function here, LG Sinha said, “The module—linked to the recent Red Fort blast—was successfully cracked due to timely intelligence and coordinated action by J&K Police.”.
He also expressed profound grief over the “unfortunate incident” at Nowgam Police Station, where an accidental explosion occurred during the forensic examination of explosive material recovered from the arrested terrorists..
“A team of officials was collecting samples of the explosives seized from the terrorists involved in the Red Fort blast. Tragically, we lost brave J&K Police personnel and officials. I express my heartfelt solidarity with the bereaved families,” the LG said.
LG Sinha emphasised that the explosion had no terror angle or outside intervention, and was purely accidental in nature.
He praised the dedication and professionalism of the J&K Police, stating that their swift action had “saved countless lives by preventing terror attacks across the country.”
Authorities have initiated a detailed inquiry into the Nowgam incident while support has been extended to the injured and the families of the martyrs, he added.
Pertinently, an accidental explosion occurred at Nowgam Police Station around 11:20 pm on Friday when a specialised team was extracting samples from a large and “unstable” cache of explosives confiscated in connection with an ongoing ‘white-collar’ terror module investigation.
The blast left nine people dead among the deceased were six policemen—State Investigation Agency Inspector Israr Ahmad Shah, Selection Grade Constables Javaid Mansoor Rather and Arshid Ahmad Shah (both Crime Branch photographers), Selection Grade Constable Aijaz Afzal Mir and Constables Mohammad Amin Mir and Showkat Ahmad Bhat (all three working with the Forensic Science Laboratory).
Naib Tehsildar Muzaffar Ahmed Khan, Chowkidar of the area Suhail Ahmad Rather, and Mohammad Shafi Parray, a tailor—(KNO)