Three ULFA militants were killed and a female cadre of the outfit was arrested by the security forces in two separate operations in Assam.

The security forces also recovered substantial amount of arms and ammunition from slain militants in both the incidents.

Army sources said troops of 66 Field Regiment killed one Aditya Naidu, an explosive expert in the ULFA ranks, in a wee hour's operation near Timon Tea Garden at Sonari in Sivasagar district of Assam. He was taking shelter in the house of a villager. The Army also arrested one Kaberi Gogoi, a lady cadre of the outfit during the operation. The Army claimed to have recovered one 9 mm pistol and two grenades from the slain ULFA militant.

In a separate incident late Monday night, a joint team of police and the Army killed two ULFA militants following an encounter at Palashguri in Baksa district of North Assam. The slain ULFA militants were identified as Dharya Deka and Rana Rabha. They were taking shelter in the house of Diganta Nath, a surrendered member of the outfit.

The security forces recovered two kilograms of RDX explosives, one pistol, one revolver and four grenades from the killed militants.

However, in a statement e-mailed to the media, the ULFA spokesman, Raju Baruah  claimed that Dharya Deka and Rana Rabha were not members of the outfit but two innocent youths who were killed by the police in 'fake encounter'.