An accidental explosion at the Nowgam Police Station on the outskirts of Srinagar late Friday night killed nine people and injured 29 others, according to officials in Jammu and Kashmir.

The blast occurred while police and forensic personnel were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives recently seized from Haryana’s Faridabad during an investigation into a “white-collar” terror module. CCTV footage from a nearby house captured the intensity of the explosion, which left severe destruction in its wake.

Firefighters were seen battling towering flames as thick smoke engulfed the area. Multiple vehicles caught fire, and massive debris covered the ground. Body parts were reportedly hurled into neighbouring houses up to 300 metres away, while residents living more than 15 kilometres from the site said they felt the tremor-like impact.

The Nowgam Police Station was central to uncovering the module tied to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. Out of the 360 kg of explosives recovered from Faridabad, the majority had been stored at the station, with some samples kept at the police forensic lab.

Earlier on Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Police announced the successful busting of an inter-state and transnational terror network linked to both banned outfits. Authorities seized 2,900 kg of explosive substances and arrested eight individuals, including three doctors — Adeel Ahmad Rather, Muzammil Shakeel, and Shaheen Saeed — associated with Al-Falah University in Faridabad.

Hours after the Srinagar blast, a separate explosion occurred in a car near the Red Fort in Delhi, killing 13 people and injuring more than 20 others. The following morning, another doctor from Jammu and Kashmir, Umar Nabi, emerged as a suspect, with sources indicating he was driving the Hyundai i20 that exploded.

Investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) believe the seizure of bomb-making chemicals may have pushed the suspect into a panic, prompting sudden movements that preceded the fatal blast in Delhi.