Written by Bashaarat MasoodSrinagar | November 16, 2025 07:32 AM IST 3 min readSecurity personnel pay tribute to the victims who were killed in an accidental explosion which ripped through Nowgam police station late Friday night, in Srinagar, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. At least nine people were killed and 32 others suffered injuries in the incident, according to officials. (PTI Photo)Stored at the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar were over 350 kg of ammonium nitrate and hundreds of kilograms of other explosives-making materials, including chemicals, batteries, detonators, and timers. These had been recovered from the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror module linked to the Red Fort blast, and were transported by the J&K Police over 1,000 km from Faridabad.On Friday night, the material caused a massive explosion at the Nowgam police station, killing nine people.According to police officers, the recovered material was loaded in airtight containers and transported in small trucks. They said the standard operating procedure (SOP) was strictly followed and that all precautions were taken.“Whenever a case is registered in a police station, it has to investigate and any material — documents, contraband substance, weapons or explosives — recovered during the probe is taken into custody of the concerned police station,” a senior officer said. “This is necessary to send it for forensic analysis to make a foolproof case against the accused.”Officials said that making an inventory of the recovered material is mandatory before storing it in the store-room. The seized sample bags are to be stored after being sealed and stamped by the concerned police station in the presence of a magistrate.According to officials, once the samples for forensic analysis are taken, it is the decision of the police station concerned whether to keep them safe within the premises or to submit them to a court’s possession.“Every police station has a malkhana (store room) where seized material is kept. If the seized material is considered too dangerous to be kept in the malkhana of the police station, the concerned officer can send it to the malkhana of the court,” an official said.Story continues below this adHe said that as per procedure, the forensic testing of highly explosive materials should be done within 24 hours.Police must also seek permission from the court before destroying any recovered material. “Police can’t take any action on their own,” another official said, adding, “But here we need a proactive officer, who moves court and seeks permission for the destruction of the materials that are not safe. Usually, the courts won’t say no.”In the case of the explosives-making material that was at the Nowgam police station, the official said that the officer concerned couldn’t have moved court for its destruction because it was yet to be sent for forensic analysis.Giving the example of another seizure of ammonium nitrate years ago, the official said, “Many years ago, in the same area, a bomb was detected. It, too, had several kilogrammes of ammonium nitrate. The police team that detected it took a prudent decision by calling the bomb disposal squad and destroying the explosive material by a controlled explosion.” Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Srinagar