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Srinagar, Feb 21 (IANS) Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, was placed under house arrest here Thursday immediately after his return from Delhi, his aide said. He arrived here for the first time following the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in Delhi's Tihar Jail Feb 9. "He was asked to board a security vehicle at the Srinagar airport and escorted by a group of local policemen to his Nigeen residence after his arrival from Delhi. Police officers accompanying him told the Mirwaiz that he could not move out of his residence," Shahid-ul-Islam, secretary of the Mirwaiz, told IANS. He also said media persons were not allowed to attend the press conference that the Mirwaiz had called at his Nigeen residence Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, life in Srinagar and other towns in the valley remained affected for the second day Thursday due to the shutdown called by hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani to protest Guru's hanging and to mount pressure on the authorities to return his body to his family. While shops, public transport and other businesses remained closed in the city, private transport, banks, government and post offices functioned normally here. Police has said no untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the valley so far.
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