Shinde, accompanied by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, went to the Polo View market to buy some Kashmiri handicrafts, official sources said.
The Home minister then drove to 'Ghanta Ghar' (clock tower) at historic Lal Chowk before heading towards Amirakadal bridge.
The VIP cavalcade then passed through Iqbal Park, Lal Ded Hospital and Zero Bridge before heading back to the Raj Bhavan, the sources said.
Though Shinde's predecessor P Chidambaram drove through the old city late in the evening last year, this is for the first time since eruption of militancy that the Home Minister of the country has visited the commercial hub of Lal Chowk even as people carried on with their normal chores.
