Militants have killed three of the four persons they abducted in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir while the whereabouts of the fourth is unknown, sources said in Jammu on Sunday.
Militants barged into the villages of Channa Sergale and Rai Siyal in the Billawar forest near Kathua and abducted four persons late on Saturday night, they said.
The hostages were taken to the upper forest belt and tortured throughout the night, the sources said adding three of them were killed and the limbs of one of the slain chopped off.
Their bodies were recovered on Sunday from Dyggaini forest area by the police.
Those killed have been identified as Prakash Singh, Gyan Singh, Sudesh alias Billu and the missing person as Hans Raj, the sources said.
A major operation has been launched to trace Hans Raj, who police fear might have also been killed.