Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday ruled out any “terrorist conspiracy” or external interference” behind the blast at the Nowgam police station on Friday, that killed nine persons and injured 32, PTI reported.

Sinha termed the explosion an “unfortunate accident” and announced a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

Addressing an event in Jammu, Sinha said the blast took place while the authorities were sampling material recovered in connection with a recent terror investigation.

The explosion occurred late on Friday evening while forensic teams were gathering samples from explosives linked to a terror module that was involved in the car bomb blast near Delhi’s Red Fort area on November 10, which killed 13 people.

Hours ahead of the Delhi blast, the police had claimed to have cracked an “inter-state and transnational terror module” operating in Faridabad and Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.

The police said at the time that it had recovered 2,900 kg of improvised explosive device-making material in raids in several states.

On Sunday, Sinha said that the sampling process had been ongoing at the Nowgam police station for two days before Friday’s accident.

He also praised the Jammu and Kashmir Police for their successful efforts in dismantling a pan-India terror network.

The Union government has described the Delhi blast as a “terrorist incident”.

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