'Senior militant held' in Kashmir

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say they have arrested a top militant ahead of the final stage of state elections in the region on Wednesday.

Faizal Suhail is the top commander of the pro-Pakistani Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (Huji) militant group in Jammu, police said.

Police fear attacks during the final day of the staggered polls.

Separately, suspected militants have killed two policemen in Sopore, north of state summer capital, Srinagar.

Curfew

Some small arms have been recovered from the militant held in Jammu, police said.

They said Faizal Suhail had been involved in a number of attacks, including the killing of five border road workers in June.

Jammu and Kashmir state is holding the seventh and last phase of its elections on Wednesday.

Security is tight in Srinagar and across the Jammu region.

In the Sopore attack, police chief Anand Jain said militants had shot at policemen of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force from close range in the main market.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killings.

Violence in Kashmir has decreased recently but militants are still fighting to end India's rule in the portion of Kashmir it controls.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since 1989, when an armed insurgency against Indian rule began.