Explosion at Naugam Station Slows Investigation Into Delhi Blast–Jaish Network Link

New Delhi: After the Delhi blast, the Naugam police station of Srinagar was in the news continuously. This police station became the main center of investigation after the threatening posters of Jaish-e-Mohammed surfaced. The movement of teams and investigation of evidence was going on here for two weeks. The agencies had gotten clues from the same station about a big white-collar module in which a network linked to doctors was allegedly storing explosives in the name of industrial chemicals.

How did the blast affect the investigation?

The entire station was reduced to debris late Friday night. Nine people died, and more than 32 were injured in this explosion. The blast has directly affected the pace of investigation, as a huge amount of explosive material recovered from Faridabad was kept here, which was being processed for forensic examination. This material was kept safe in the police station during the investigation. The blast damaged much of the vital evidence collected by the agencies and created a situation for restarting the investigation.

What was going on in the police station at the time of the blast?

The explosion occurred around 11:20 pm. At that time teams from the State Investigation Agency (SIA), the Forensic Science Lab, and the Revenue Department were present inside. They were separating samples of the material seized from Faridabad and packing them. Then suddenly there was a loud explosion whose sound was heard 10 to 15 kilometers away. After the blast, fire engulfed the police station, and many nearby houses were also damaged.

Was this blast part of some conspiracy?

At present the agencies have denied the possibility of any kind of conspiracy. Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry, Prashant Lokhande, has said that in the preliminary investigation this incident appears to be accidental. He said the material was being prepared for forensic examination when the explosion occurred. The ministry says that it is too early to reach any conclusion and speculations should be avoided until the investigation is completed.

Now in which direction will the investigation move?

Many questions have arisen after the blast. Was there any mistake in the handling of the material? Did any chemical reaction occur during packaging? Or was the material already unstable? The agencies are investigating all these points. Also, raids are going on against white-collar modules across the country so that the rest of the network can also be caught.