Police said an unknown number of militants forced their entry into the house of Inspector Muhammad Ashraf Dar in Larve village in Pulwama district.

"They fired at the officer from close range resulting in his death on the spot," a police officer said.

With this, the number of policemen killed by the militants in south Kashmir on Wednesday rose to three.

Earlier, militants killed a policeman in Zazripora village of Shopian district and then killed another policeman in Louswani village in Pulwama district.

Director General of Police S.P. Vaid said the policemen had ignored the advisory regarding visits to ancestral places without security.