Police in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh said Monday that three Sikh militants had been killed during a gun battle in the Pilibhit district.

Pilibhit police superintendent Avinash Pandey said that security forces had been conducting an operation in the area and had surrounded three Khalistani rebels following a tip-off.

What police say happened

Pandey said members of the Kahlistan Zindabad Force (KZF) — a militant group fighting for a separate homeland known as "Khalistan" — fired on authorities.

"In the retaliatory action, all three were critically injured and later died in hospital," Pandey said.

Police recovered two assault rifles, two pistols and a large cache of ammunition.

What is the Khalistan movement?

The movement to create an independent Sikh nation, known as Khalistan, led to the killing of tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and 1990s.

The campaign to create a homeland dates back to India's 1947 independence and has been blamed for the assassination of a prime minister and the bombing of a passenger jet.

The issue has since become a diplomatic flashpoint for India and Western nations with large Sikh populations, some of whom have accused India of plotting assassinations of prominent separatists.

New Delhi demands more robust action against the Khalistan movement, which is banned in India.

Key leaders in the movement are accused of terrorism. 

kb/rm (AFP, DW sources)