Three of the fifteen terrorists who took part in Sunday's massacre of 24 Pandits in Nandigram, Pulwama district, have been shot dead, according to A K Suri, the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police.

Combing operations are on and the rest of the killers will be tracked soon, he told rediff.com over phone from his residence in Srinagar.

"The encounter took place between Shopian and Pulwama," he added.

According to him, the 15 terrorists, who were in army uniform, reached Nandigram at around midnight and carried out the killings after disarming the police picket posted there to protect the Pandits.

"The terrorists took away one carbine, three self-loading rifles and three .303 rifles along with ammunition after the killing. In all nine policemen were posted there. While one was on leave, two were absent from duty. We are taking strict action against them," he said.

A few days ago the locals had warned the police that an attack could take place, he admitted.

"Yes, it is true that the locals had given information about the activities of some terrorists in this particular area...

"We are looking into the matter and suitable action will be taken against the police officers for not taking timely action to prevent the incident," he added.

Asked if it was true that a local resident had escaped from the village and informed the nearest police post, but no action was taken, Suri said, "By that time the terrorists had fled from the spot."