The Lashkar-e-Tayiba is forcibly taking students in Kashmir away for recruitment, official sources said on Tuesday.

"The Lashkar is short of cadre as a large number of its men and top leaders have been eliminated. Now they are forcibly enrolling students and taking them away to remote areas for arms training," a source told PTI.

They said a class IX student, Nayaz Ahmed, was kidnapped by a Lashkar area commander, Abu Arif, from Udhampur district's Gool when he had gone to school a fortnight ago.

A first information report has been registered in this regard by his parents and relatives, who have urged police and security forces to rescue the student from the clutches of militants.

More than 20 students have been taken away in a similar manner by the militants in far-flung areas in Gool, Darhal, Basantgarh, Madwa and Mendhar belt of Jammu region, they said.

They added that some of their parents have been given money ranging from Rs 30,000 to 50,000.

Security agencies are trying to rescue the students and crack down on the members of the outfit.