NEW DELHI (DPA) - Indian security forces gunned down two suspected militants in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir state on Thursday (April 25), police said.

The encounter broke out in the Bijbehara area when the army, paramilitary forces and local police launched a joint search operation after getting inputs about the presence of militants, a police spokesman said.

A gun battle followed when the militants fired on the search party.

Four rifles and some ammunition had been found at the site.

"The identities and affiliations of the militants are being ascertained," the police spokesman said.

Search and sanitisation operations were continuing and people had been advised to stay away from the site of the encounter as there could be stray explosive materials present there, police said.

Anantnag parliamentary constituency is voting on three days in India's multi-phase general elections. One round is over and the next are scheduled on Monday and May 6.

The Election Commission has said the voting was staggered keeping in mind the security situation in the constituency, which is spread across four districts of militancy-ridden south Kashmir.

The constituency includes Pulwama district, where 40 paramilitary troopers were killed by a suicide bomber in February, leading to an escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan.

The disputed Kashmir region is divided in two parts, one administered by India and the other by Pakistan.

India-administered Kashmir has seen a deadly secessionist movement since the 1980s. India claims Pakistan aids and abets Kashmiri militants, a charge the latter denies.