School bus torched in Srinagar to enforce shutdown

SRINAGAR - A mob torched a school bus in Old City area here Saturday to enforce a shutdown called by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani across the Kashmir Valley. No one was injured in the incident, police said.

“The bus of a private school was stopped at Khwaja Bazaar in Old City area. The students and the driver were forced to get down and the bus was then torched by the miscreants,” a police official said.

Following the incident, some private schools in uptown and downtown areas of Srinagar declared a holiday Saturday. Students were sent back to their homes even though many had already reached their schools.

“The safety of children is our paramount concern and we have shut down the school today (Saturday) to ensure that no harm comes to our childern,” said the principal of one of the prominent public schools in Srinagar.