Security forces have killed three militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam.
A police official said a cordon-and-search operation was launched after they got a tip-off about the presence of militants.
The official said the militants fired upon the security forces after which a gun battle ensued.
Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid said the militants belonged to the same group who captured a police constable on Friday night and killed him.
The constable, Salem Ahmed Shah, was kidnapped only a few kilometres from the encounter site.
Shah had been undergoing police training in Kathua. He was home in Kulgam on leave.
A police spokesman said Shah's body was found with several injury marks on it, indicating he had been tortured.
A number of Kashmiri army and police personnel have been kidnapped, generally when they're on leave, and killed by militants in the recent past, indicating a hardening of stands in the Valley.
The army and Kashmir Police have gone so far as to tell theirpersonnel not to travel to their hometowns while on leave.