JAMMU, India, March 2 (Reuters) - A top Kashmiri militant accused of killing 16 Hindus in the revolt-torn Himalayan region was shot dead in a gun battle with Indian troops on Friday, a defence spokesman said.

Yaseen was a policeman before he joined the Hizbul Mujahideen group and went on to head one of its units, he said. He was accused of killing 10 Hindus in 2004 and six last year.

"He was a police deserter, a most wanted militant and involved in two massacres of minority community members in Rajouri district," Lieutenant-Colonel S.D. Goswami said.

Rajouri is 170 km (105 miles) northwest of Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.

Authorities say violence has steadily decreased in Kashmir since India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full but rule it in parts, began peace talks in 2004.

The separatist revolt against Indian rule has killed more than 40,000 people since it began in 1989, officials say. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.

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