Troops seal Kashmir streets, thwart separatist march

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Troops sealed off residential areas across the Kashmir valley on Monday and thwarted a march planned by thousands of separatists to honour "martyrs", an annual event that turns violent every year.

The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, the region's main separatist alliance, planned the march to mark the anniversary of July 13, 1931, when police shot dead dozens of demonstrators protesting against a then Hindu ruler of the state.

Police said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of Hurriyat, was placed under house arrest to stop him from leading a march to the Lal Chowk (Red Square), the historic centre of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital.

Police erected barricades and put up barbed wire to stop people from marching in the streets, witnesses said.

Anti-India protests have raged in the region since bodies of two women, aged 17 and 22, who locals say were abducted, raped and killed by security forces, were found on May 29.

A judicial probe points to the involvement of police in the incident.