9 killed, 32 injured in Nowgam police station blast; cause being investigated: MHA
New Delhi (PTI): The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday said that nine people have been killed and 32 others were injured in a "massive" unfortunate accidental explosion at the Nowgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a press briefing, Prashant Lokhande, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the cause of the incident is being investigated and any other speculation into the cause of the blast was unnecessary.
He said a huge cache of explosive substances and chemicals was recovered during probe into a terror module and kept securely in an open area in the premises of Nowgam police station, located on the outskirts of Srinagar.
As a part of the standard and prescribed procedure, the recovered explosives were forwarded to forensic and chemical examination, Lokhande said.
Because of the voluminous nature of the recovery, the procedure was being continuously carried out for the last two days, he said.
Owing to the "unstable and sensitive" nature of the recovery, it was being handled very carefully under expert supervision, the joint secretary said.
"However, during the process, an accidental explosion took place at about 11.20 pm on the night of November 14. In this unfortunate accidental incident, nine people have lost their lives where as 27 police personnel, two revenue officials and three civilians have received injuries," Lokhande said.
The police station has suffered severe damage, while some other buildings were also affected, he said.
"The cause of the accident is being investigated. However, any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary," the joint secretary said.
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Tejas jet suffered damage to airframe while landing at frontline air base
New Delhi (PTI): A Tejas light combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) sustained major damage to its airframe after it overshot the runway at a frontline airbase following a suspected brake failure earlier this month, authoritative sources said on Sunday.
The pilot of the aircraft ejected safely, they said.
It is learnt that the aircraft was returning to the base after carrying out a training sortie.
There was no official word from the IAF on the accident that took place on February 7.
Following the incident, the IAF grounded the entire fleet of around 30 single-seat Tejas jets to carry out an extensive technical scrutiny, the sources said.
It was the third accident involving the Tejas jets. The first one took place in March 2024, when a Tejas jet crashed near Jaisalmer.
The second incident took place in November 2025, when a Tejas jet crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow.
The latest accident comes at a time when Tejas maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has missed several deadlines to supply the Tejas Mark 1A variant of the aircraft to the IAF.
In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF.
The delivery of the jets is facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for the supply of its aero engines to power the jets.
The defence ministry in September last year sealed another deal worth Rs 62,370 crore with HAL to procure 97 Tejas MK-1A light combat aircraft for the IAF.
Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.
It has been designed to undertake air defence, maritime reconnaissance and strike roles.
