Late on the night of Friday, 14 November 2025, a massive blast tore through the compound of the Nowgam Police Station on the outskirts of Srinagar. The blast killed at least nine people and injured dozens of others. This happened just days after a deadly car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort — a link which has raised alarm not only for what happened, but what might come next. Around 11:20 pm local time, a large quantity of explosives — reportedly material recently seized in connection with a probe into a terror-module — detonated inside the stations premises in Nowgam.  Among the dead were police, forensic personnel and other officials who were examining the seized material. The blast was so intense that body parts were recovered some indicating how violently the explosion ripped through the compound.  Initial statements from the local police say the incident was accidental, not a terror attack in itself, although the explosives were part of a terror-related investigation.

The Backdrop: Delhi Car Blast & The Kashmir Link

Just days earlier, in the capital city, a car exploded near the historic Red Fort in Delhi, killing 12 + people and injuring many more. The government has termed that incident a terror act by “anti-national forces”. Investigators uncovered a “white-collar terror ecosystem” allegedly involving radicalised professionals, students, and foreign handlers — originating in Kashmir and extending into other states. The Nowgam explosion happened in the midst of this turbulence: the explosives involved were reportedly linked to that very probe— materials moved from Faridabad to Kashmir for safe-keeping/tests.

• Collateral among the law-enforcement community: It wasn’t civilians on the street in a nighttime market — it was police and forensic teams who died. The danger of handling high-volume explosives has been laid bare.
• Geopolitical ripples: The Delhi explosion sharpened tensions with Pakistan and stirred national security concerns. Kashmir once again stands at the intersection of local unrest and national politics.
• Public trust and safety: When a police station becomes an explosion site, questions arise about safety protocols, storage of explosives, chain of custody, and transparency.
• Narrative and perception: The probing of a terror-module tied to Kashmir will bolster narratives of unrest, counter-terror operations, but also risks of communal- or region-based backlash.

In neighborhoods near Nowgam, residents say the shock-wave was felt kilometres away — windows rattled, houses shook. Rescues were complicated by subsequent smaller blasts and fires.
Many in Kashmir were already anxious given the heightened security posture after the Delhi incident. For them this blast reinforced the sense of being on a tinder-edge — where either accident or attack can strike.
In Delhi too, commuters at the Red Fort metro station described the scene: “boom, tremors, panic, people rushing out” — the randomness of terror. While it is extremely serious, investigators have ruled out a terror angle for the Nowgam blast — calling it accidental.
That complicates the narrative: was this a tragic mishap, or a cover for something more deliberate? Because the materials were part of a terror investigation, lines blur between accident and attack. Also, the link between the Delhi car explosion and the Kashmir probe is still being formally established — many pieces remain under investigation. Late last night, in the quiet outskirts of Srinagar, a police station lit up in flames. In Delhi only days before, a car exploded and changed many lives. These events are distinct and yet intertwined — a chain of investigation, materials, individuals crossing states and roles.
Whether the Nowgam explosion was accidental or part of something bigger may become clearer in time. But for now: lives have been lost, anxieties amplified, and the fragile line between accident and terror exposed.
We must honour the victims, hold institutions to account, and hope that the aftermath yields not just investigations and blame-games, but safer systems and peace of mind for communities living under the shadow of conflict.