New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed grief over the explosion inside the Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Srinagar in which many people were killed and dozens injured and said that it’s a “wake-up call” for the Centre to strengthen the Intelligence and anti-terror mechanisms.

Nine people were killed and 29 others were injured in the massive accidental blast inside the Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar, official sources said on Saturday.

Same sources said that the explosive material that went off was seized during the raid in Faridabad when the white collar terror module was busted.

In a post on X, Kharge said, “It is extremely disconcerting and sad to know that 9 precious lives have been lost and 29 people have been injured in a blast at a police station in Nowgam, Jammu & Kashmir. My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones. The injured must be treated with prompt medical supervision, and adequate compensation must be provided to the victims.”

He highlighted that these developments come only days after the “cowardly” car blast terror attack near Red Fort in Delhi, and said that this “is a wake-up call for the Union Govt to strengthen Intelligence and anti-terror mechanisms. It cannot run away from accountability.”

“The Indian National Congress stands united with the nation, against the scourge of terrorism. In light of the recent Red Fort terror attack, there is an urgent need to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the growing threat of terrorism, which continues to receive backing and support from external forces,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Nalin Prabhat, has said that the explosion inside the Nowgam police station was unfortunate and dismissed any “terror link”, saying that other theories into the cause of this unfortunate incident were just “unnecessary speculation”.

The DGP told a press conference here at the Police Control Room (PCR), “A huge quantity of explosive material from Faridabad was brought to Nowgam Police Station and kept securely in an open space. Due to the voluminous nature of the recovery, the sampling process of the explosive material was taking place for the last two days, yesterday and the day before, to forward the samples for further forensic and chemical examination.”

“Due to the unstable and sensitive nature of the explosive material, handling was being done with extreme caution. Unfortunately, around 11.20 pm on Friday, there was an accidental explosion of the seized material. Any further speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary. In this unfortunate incident, nine people have lost their lives,” he added.

He also mentioned that further investigations are underway.

–IANS

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