At least 75 people were feared killed in bomb blasts in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur yesterday, state television said, citing Rajasthan state Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Rohit Singh, a senior official in the state of Rajasthan where the bombs exploded, told local television that between 50 and 60 people had been killed in six blasts "as per information available with me right now".

The explosions in Jaipur took place in markets and several other areas of the city in Rajasthan, a region dotted with palaces and temples that draw hundreds of thousands of Indian and foreign tourists every year, said A.K. Jain, a top police official in Jaipur.

"Obviously, it's a terrorist plot," Rajasthan's police chief, A.S. Gill told reporters, adding that about 100 people were wounded.

"The way it has been done, the attempt was to cause the maximum damage to human life," Gill said.

He added bicycles may had been used in the bombings. But he did not say if the explosives were detonated by suicide bombers riding through the crowds or if the bombs had simply been planted on parked bicycles.

Shortly after the bombings, which began just before 7:30 pm (10 pm Beijing time), authorities put New Delhi, India's capital, and Mumbai, the country's financial center, on high alert along with several other cities.

Security was also quickly stepped up at aiports and railway stations across the country, said India's junior home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal.

One of the blasts in Jaipur reportedly hit a market near a temple dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. Yesterday is the day of worship set aside for Hanuman, and the temple was packed with people offering prayers on the way home from work.

The Press Trust of India news agency said another blast took place near the Johari Bazaar - the city's jewelry market, a popular destination for tourists. The tourist season, however, ended in March and there were no immediate indications that foreigners had been caught in the explosions.

A spate of bombings have plagued India since 2005. Last year, two explosions killed 43 people in the southern city of Hyderabad; seven bombings along Mumbai's commuter rail network killed nearly 200 people in July 2006, and three New Delhi markets were bombed in October 2005, killing 62 people.

There have also been a number of smaller explosions, and India has repeatedly blamed the attacks on Islamic militant groups backed by neighbor and rival Pakistan - an allegation Islamabad denies.

While Indian officials had not yet openly blamed Pakistan-based militants for yesterday's attack, Jaiswal, the junior home minister, suggested the bombings were connected to previous explosions.

"The blasts are part of a big conspiracy," he told reporters.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/14/2008 page10)