NEW DELHI: A day after an explosion at a police station in Nowgam claimed nine lives, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the victims’ families and Rs 1 lakh for those severely injured.As per an official statement, the compensation will be provided from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Nalin Prabhat said the blast, which occurred late Friday, happened while an FSL (forensic science laboratory) team was carrying out sampling of explosives recovered during the investigation into the “white-collar terror module” case busted in Delhi-NCR.Prabhat stressed that the blast was accidental and urged people not to speculate about its nature.“As part of the prescribed procedure, the samples of the recovery had to be forwarded for further forensic and chemical examination. On account of the voluminous nature of the recovery, the FSL team has been carrying out this process for the last two days,” he told reporters in Srinagar.“Due to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, the FSL team was conducting the sampling process and its handling with utmost caution. Unfortunately, during this course, around 11:20 pm last night, an accidental explosion took place. Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary,” he added.According to the DGP, the nine who died included one SIA (State Investigation Agency) personnel, three members of the FSL team, two crime photographers, two revenue officials accompanying the magistrate’s team, and a tailor associated with the unit.A total of 32 people sustained injuries — 27 police personnel, three civilans and two revenue officials.
