Srinagar, Dec 13 (IANS): The body of a village headman kidnapped by gunmen from his house in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district was found Saturday in a field, police said.

Police said unidentified gunmen kidnapped Ghulam Muhammad Mir, 62, headman of Hygam village in Baramulla Friday night.

"The body of the slain headman has been recovered from a field Saturday morning away from the place where he was kidnapped. An FIR has been lodged," a senior police officer told IANS here.

Separatist guerrillas have been targeting village headmen in Jammu and Kashmir ever since the panchayat polls were held in the state after 20 years in 2011.

These killings are believed to instil fear among people so that they stay away from the democratic process.

While three phases of the assembly polls have been successfully completed, polling for the fourth phase in which 18 constituencies will vote in Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian and Samba districts begins Sunday.