Srinagar February 26: A terrorist was today killed after his accomplices lobbed a hand grenade at a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in a bid to free him, police said. Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mushtaq Ahmad Chopan tried to escape from the Tral police station wearing a burqa. However, he was killed in the attack in which Constable Mehraj Din was injured, a police spokesman said. The incident took place at 12:30 pm. The terrorists hurled the grenade when Chopan was near the main gate of the police station, he said.

"At 12:30 pm, Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mushtaq Chopan tried to escape from the police station wearing a burqa. When he was near the main gate, someone from outside lobbed a grenade as a part of the planned conspiracy to divert the attention (of police personnel) so that he could escape conveniently," the spokesman said. The grenade exploded inside the police station, near Chopan, resulting in his death, he said.

The spokesman said that a magisterial inquiry has been initiated under Section 176 of the CrPC. "The circumstances under which he was escaping are being looked into," he said. Chopan was arrested from Baramulla district's Sopore area, but his custody was transferred recently to the police station in connection with a militancy-related case, he said.

"A terrorist Mushtaq Ahmad Chopan died in grenade explosion when challenged by sentry while trying to escape from Police Station Tral," Director General of Police SP Vaid said in a tweet. This is the third attack on the police in the past 24 hours. Two policemen were killed in separate attacks by militants in the Chrar-e-Sharief area of Budgam district and the Soura area of the city yesterday.