Inspector Asrar Ahmad Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Police was one of the nine people killed in the accidental blast inside the Nowgam Police Station on Friday.
Asrar, 38, was a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara. He was a member of the State Investigation Agency (SIA), a unit that was formed recently in the Union Territory (UT) to investigate terrorism cases.
NDTV spoke with his family, who learnt about his death through social media.
"A Brave Officer"
"We are devastated by the news. He was a brave officer. He was very good at studies from an early age. Everyone liked him," Asrar's cousin Ubaer told NDTV. Ubaer said that Asrar joined the police in 2011 and was dedicated and honest about his job.
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"We learnt about the incident through social media. Many officers from his batch have been martyred in operations," Ubaer added.
Asrar leaves behind his parents, wife, and three children.
Police Say Nowgam Blast "Accidental"
Nine people were killed and 32 others were injured in Friday's blast.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP), Nalin Prabhat, stressed on Saturday that any speculation about the incident was unnecessary, as preliminary findings pointed to an inadvertent blast during a mandated forensic procedure.
Addressing the media, DGP Prabhat said that the blast occurred during the ongoing investigation under FIR 62 of 2025, linked to a major seizure of explosive materials, chemicals, and reagents recovered from Faridabad on November 9 and 10.
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"This recovery, like the rest of the recoveries that we have done, was transported and kept securely in the open area of the Police Station Nowgam," Prabhat added.
"On account of the voluminous nature of the recovery, this process was going on for the past 2 days, which means yesterday and the day before, by the FSL team. Due to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, the sampling process and handling were being done with utmost caution by the FSL team," the DGP further said.
Reiterating that the explosion was accidental, Prabhat said that a formal inquiry has been launched to investigate all technical aspects surrounding the incident.
