Authorities in Srinagar have placed breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest, apprehending trouble in view of his scheduled visit to north Kashmir's Kupwara district, where a teacher was shot dead by soldiers on Friday.

Breakaway Hurriyat Conference spokesman Ayaz Akbar said Geelani was scheduled to leave for Kupwara early this morning to attend an Eid-e-Milan

there.

"The programme had been finalised last week only. Geelani was also expected to visit the residence of Abdul Rashid Mir, a teacher who was killed by the Army on Friday," he added.

Geelani was placed under house arrest on Friday night, Akbar said, adding that a police contingent had been deployed in and around the Hurriyat chairman's residence at Hyderpora near Srinagar.