New Delhi: A bus ferrying school children was stoned by miscreants in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The bus was ferrying students from Republic Day function.

No casualties were reported, though minor damage was caused to the vehicle.

Stringent security arrangements were put in place in the Valley ahead of Republic Day. The internet service too remained suspended.

Kashmir witnessed a tense Republic Day as militants carried out grenade attack on security forces at several places on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, an encounter broke out in Khunmoh area, on city outskirts. Two militants were killed in the gun battle.

The separatist groups had earlier called for a strike on Saturday. Shops, offices, petrol pumps and business establishments in Srinagar remained closed while public transport services were suspended, officials said. However, the Republic Day celebrations passed peacefully.

Meanwhile, the Governor, in his speech on Republic Day, said that Kashmir would once again become ‘paradise on earth’.

“I have no doubt that a day will come once again when Kashmir will be the same as what Emperor Jahangir had praised - a paradise on earth,” Governor Satya Pal Malik said.

(With inputs from PTI)