In twist of fate, grenade lobbed to free J&K terrorist kills him

A bid by militants to free their comrade from a police station went horribly wrong after the detained ultra was killed in the grenade explosion allegedly triggered to divert the attention of cops and facilitate his escape, in Tral on Monday. A policeman was also injured.

The police said Hizbul Mujhadeen militant Mushtaq Ahmad Chopan, who was in custody of Tral police, tried to escape wearing a burqa around 12.30 pm.  “When he was near the main gate, someone from outside lobbed a grenade as a part of the planned conspiracy to divert the attention so that he could escape conveniently,” said a police spokesman.

“The grenade however landed near Chopan. He was killed on the spot while constable Mehraj-ud-din suffered injuries. The injured personnel are being shifted to Army hospital whereas the body of the detainee is being taken for autopsy,” added the spokesman.

Preliminary investigation reveals that someone had handed over a burqa to the slain militant during one of the meetings in police custody some days ago. On Monday afternoon, he wore the burqa, walked up to the main gate and waited for his associates to divert the attention of the cops so that he could flee.  “Militants lobbed a grenade to create panic. But it landed near the spot where he was waiting,” said an officer.

Police has initiated a magisterial inquiry into the incident under section 176 of the CrPC. “The circumstances under which he was escaping are being looked into,” he said.

A resident of Tral, Mushtaq Chopan was arrested in Watlab-Sopore  in North Kashmir along with two other associates. He was booked under sections 18, 20, 38 Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act and section 302 RPC (murder) and  7/27 Arms Act. “Chopan was apprehended by Sopore police under section 7/27 Arms Act. The militant was in custody of Tral police station as he was wanted by Awantipora police,” said the spokesman.

This is the second time a militant tried to escape from custody this month. On February 6, a Pakistani LeT commander, Naveed Jatt, pulled off a dramatic escape from Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital after his associates shot dead two policemen accompanying him for medical checkup.