Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the blast in Nowgam’s police station near Srinagar on Friday is a wake-up call for the Centre to pull up its socks in strengthening intelligence and ensuring a robust anti-terror mechanism in place.
A massive explosion ripped through the J&K police station in Nowgam on Friday night, killing nine people and injuring several others. Police sources have said the blast was “accidental” as police and forensic officials examined the cache of explosives seized from Faridabad in Haryana in connection with the “white collar” terror module busted recently.
Kharge said on Saturday that the central government “cannot run away from accountability” for not being able to avert the car bomb explosion outside the Red Fort metro station in Delhi on November 10, which has now been connected with the “white collar” terror network. It was earlier in the day on Monday when investigation agencies had seized nearly 2,900 kg of ammonium nitrate from Faridabad, Haryana.
Expressing condolences over the loss of lives in the blast at Nowgam police station, Kharge wrote in a post on social media: “It is extremely disconcerting and sad to know that nine precious lives have been lost and 24 people have been injured in a blast at a police station in Nowgam, Jammu and 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.”
Demanding an urgent all-party meeting to “discuss the growing threat of terrorism that continues to receive support from external forces”, Kharge said recent developments are a “wake-up call for the Union government to strengthen intelligence and anti-terror mechanisms”.
“It cannot run away from accountability,” he added, saying the Indian National Congress stands 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 said in the post.
The Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Nalin Prabhat, said on Saturday, that there was no sabotage angle.
He said the blast occurred on Friday night when a specialised team was extracting samples from a large and “unstable” cache of explosives confiscated from Haryana’s Faridabad district in connection with the ongoing investigation into a “white collar terror module”.
Also Read: Nowgam police station blast accidental, not sabotage: J-K DGP
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