New Delhi  - Authorities in India-administered Kashmir placed the region's main separatist leaders under house arrest Friday to prevent them from addressing rallies after they issued a call to boycott Indian elections, a news report said.

Polling has been held in the two rounds in the troubled region since April 16. Three more rounds remain until the parliamentary elections conclude on May 13.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the main separatist group in Indian Kashmir, was put under house arrest in the state capital Srinagar on Thursday night ahead of a Friday congregation address in the city, the PTI news agency reported.

The step comes a day after the separatist amalgam asked the people to stay away from parliamentary elections.

Police also placed under house arrest other leaders from the APHC including Syed Saleem Geelani, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Hakim Abdul Rashid and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Forum, Javid Ahmad Mir.

"Election is no substitute to the wishes of the people of Kashmir. We will boycott the elections till the Kashmir issue is resolved," Mirwaiz said.

Similar restrictions were imposed on Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik on Thursday.

The Hurriyat had only last week announced that it will not call for a poll boycott for the first time in 15 years.

The April 16 statement was made by Maulvi Mohammad Abbas Ansari, the acting chairman of the Hurriyat since Farooq was away for treatment.

The statement drew a sharp reaction from Pakistan-administered Kashmir-based United Jehad Council, an amalgam of 13 militant outfits which had called for boycott of the polls.

Kashmir, a disputed region between India and neighbouring Pakistan, has witnessed the deaths of more than 45,000 people since a secessionist militant movement broke out in the late 1980s.

New Delhi has accused Islamabad of aiding and abetting Kashmiri militants, a charge that Pakistan denies. Islamabad said it supports the Kashmiris' legitimate aspirations for freedom. (dpa)