NEW DELHI: The Jammu and Kashmir police have put to rest all speculations and clarified that the blast at the police station was accidental. However, what is being probed is the behaviour of the ammonium nitrate as it detonated on its own.
Officials say that the ammonium nitrate had reached a volatile stage and hence detonated on its own before the forensic teams could collect the samples.
An explosion ripped through the premises of the Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir. Nine people have lost their lives in this accidental blast. Preliminary investigations suggest that the blast occurred because the ammonium nitrate was unstable. It had been converted into a high-grade explosive by the accused persons.
The ammonium nitrate was seized following raids that were conducted against the Faridabad module of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The explosion took place when the ammonium nitrate was being handled. It was being handled with utmost care, but due to the unstable nature of the chemical, the explosion took place, officials said.
The chemical was pushed beyond the stability threshold, thus making it unstable in nature. Officials say that this batch of ammonium nitrate was at a stage where it was ready to be packed into an improvised explosive device (IED). The accused persons, while turning the ammonium nitrate into a potent explosive, had also mixed the sensitising agents as well as fuel.