A local court on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to three Hizbul Mujahideen militants involved in killing of two women in Udhampur district a decade ago.

District and Sessions Judge A K Sharma also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on the three -- Mushtaq Ahmed, Mohammad Hussain and Gul Mohammad- who had slit the throats of Anima Begum and Arshida Begum in Kadwa village on the night of August 1, 2001.

Another militant Mohammad Abbas, who was also involved in the case, was killed in the encounter. The police had arrested the militants in 2005.

The court also awarded additional three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of the militants for spreading terror.