Security forces killed three suspected militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday. State Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said three weapons were also recovered from the site of the encounter.

The gunfight took place just a day after a police constable abducted by suspected militants from his home in Kulgam district’s Muthalhama village was found dead. “The terrorist group that tortured our colleague CT Mohd Saleem of Kulgam and killed him brutally are all trapped in an encounter with the police, Army and Central Reserve Police Force,” Vaid tweeted on Sunday.

The militants belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen groups, a police release said.

The security forces had launched a search operation early on Sunday in Redwani area of Kulgam based on intelligence inputs that the suspected militants were hiding in the area. “As the security forces advanced, hiding terrorists fired resulting in a brief encounter in which three terrorists were killed,” the police said.

Mobile internet services have been suspended in Kulgam and Anantnag districts.