Dozens Killed, Wounded In India Blasts

Official Says 29 Dead, 88 Wounded In Series Of Explosions In Western India

(CBS/AP)  A top official says 29 people have been killed and at least 88 wounded in a series of explosions in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state where Ahmedabad is located, says at least 16 blasts went off in several neighborhoods tonight.

Modi called the blasts "a crime against humanity."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either set of bombings, and it was not clear if they were connected.

Most of the explosions went off in the crowded areas of the older part of the congested city.

Prithviraj Chavan, a junior minister in the prime minister's office, called the explosions "deplorable" and said they were set off by people "bent upon creating a communal divide in the country" - language officials usually use when blaming Islamic militants believed to be behind bombings that have repeatedly hit India's cities in recent years.

"Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmadabad seem to be part of the same strategy," federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters in New Delhi.

Patil provided no details about the explosions.

The latest attacks came a day after seven synchronized small bombs shook Bangalore, India's high-tech hub, killing two people and wounding at least five others.

On Saturday, police found and defused an eighth bomb near a popular shopping mall in Bangalore, said Srikumar, the director general of police in Karnataka state, where the city is located. Like many Indians, he uses only a single name.

As in past bombings in India, suspicion for both sets of explosions quickly fell on Muslim militants blamed for attacks such as the July 2006 bombings that ripped through Mumbai's commuter rail network, killing nearly 200 people.

Those fears were amplified by the history of Ahmadabad, a crowded and historic city that in 2002 was the scene of one of worst incidents of rioting between India's Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.

The violence killed about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. It was triggered by a fire that killed 60 passengers on a train packed with Hindu pilgrims. Hindu extremists blamed the deaths on Muslims and rampaged through Muslim neighborhoods, although the cause of the blaze remains unclear.