By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

A senior Indian police officer, an army soldier and three militants were killed in a gun battle in Jammu and Kashmir’s south on Sunday, officials said.

Manoj Pandita, spokesman of the police, confirmed the killing of Aman Kumar, a deputy superintendent of police, in the gun battle in Kulgam district.

In a statement, Pandita said Kumar had been heading the police’s anti-militancy wing Special Operations Group in the district for over one and a half year.

"It is an unfortunate incident, in which we have lost a brave officer. He was a fighter and he led Sunday's operation himself,” said Dilbag Singh, police chief in the region.

Police also confirmed the killings of the three militants and said that all of them belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad militant outfit, which had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that killed at least 40 paramilitary personnel on Feb. 14. 

Col. Rajesh Kalia, the spokesman for the Indian Ministry of Defense in Kashmir, confirmed the killing of an Indian soldier in the gun battle.

According to police, a joint group of Indian forces -- including  the Indian Army, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Special Operations Group of the police -- carried out an operation against the militants after receiving information about the presence of militants in Turigam village.

Kashmir witnessed a complete shutdown on Sunday as part of a protest against the arrests of Kashmiri leaders by Indian forces.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.