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Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
Fifteen Hindu villagers, out of the 22 abducted on Friday night, were gunned down by militants on Saturday morning at village Shruntidhar Paddar near Kishtwar in hilly Doda district, nearly 300 kilometres from Jammu.
Five villagers were wounded and two managed to escape, said the Jammu range police chief, R V Raju.
"The police have recovered 15 bodies and shifted the five seriously injured persons to hospital at Atholi," said Raju.
He said 22 villagers were abducted by the militants on Friday night and taken to the nearby jungle.
Army and police parties were rushed to the area early on Saturday morning for mounting search and rescue operations.
The police party led by the station house officer, Atholli village, was first to reach the spot and it recovered the bodies from a nearby jungle.
Sources also said the police party managed to shift the injured to the hospital.
The condition of the injured was stated to be serious. Sources said the injured were being shifted to Doda for treatment.
No one has yet admitted responsibility for the killings, which have triggered tension in the Jammu region.
The authorities have put the police and security forces on high alert in the region to maintain law and order.
It may be mentioned here that on July 22, eight Hindu villagers were gunned down by militants at village Chirjee in Doda district.
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