7 major blasts in Jaipur, India; 80 feared dead and 200+ more injured

India's police chief AS gill reportedly told the Press Trust of India that the bombings were "obviously a terror attack,' speaking shortly after the blasts.

Jaipur has been rocked by six blasts in five areas while another bomb, that was discovered by the police, has been diffused.

At least 35 people have died while 100 have been injured.

Terrorists set off the powerful bomb blasts at crowded markets in Jaipur in a span of 20 minutes. The Minister of State for Home Affairs has said that use of RDX is suspected in the blasts.

Sources have said that the bombs may have been planted on bicycles.

As many as 15 injured people have been taken to Sawai Madho hospital. The blasts have been confirmed by the military intelligence.

As per the Home Ministry sources, the blasts occurred at crowded market places of the city including Hawa Mahal, Johri Bazaar, Tripolia, Chandpol and Bari Choppad, which are thickly populated areas of Jaipur. The blasts took place between 7.15 pm and 7.45 pm.

Four of the blast sites are within the range of one km.

Speaking to NDTV, the Director General of Rajasthan Police said, ''It is a terror attack.''

As per the sources, the Centre is sending National Security Guards to Jaipur.

Delhi, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh have been put on high alert following the serial blasts.

Check out the Live Coverage of NDTV on this story.

Terror struck yet again — this time in Jaipur, at the busiest market, at the busiest hour, aimed with chilling precision to kill, maim, terrify and cleave the country. At last count, the toll was 80 killed, and with over 150 injured, it could go up. (Watch)

The first blast took place at 7.20pm on Tuesday in the crowded Johari Bazaar and within 15 minutes seven more blasts occurred in adjoining areas in the walled city — near the Hanuman Mandir, which was milling with devotees, near Hawa Mahal, at Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazar and Chandpole.

Within minutes, the entire market was a picture of total chaos. People ran screaming, jumping over dead bodies and severed limbs, skirting mangled rickshaws and damaged cars. The piercing wail of ambulance sirens replaced the firecrackers that would go off every other day in Jaipur to celebrate its victorious Rajasthan Royals T20 team.

Terrorists displaying the telltale tactics of Lashkar-e-Taiba and SIMI struck with bombs planted on cycles and cycle-rickshaws. In the past three years, this is the 21st terror attack outside Jammu & Kashmir. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje said, "We will not tolerate this."

Police later arrested a man from Mumbai. Rajasthan's director general of police, A S Gill, said the attacks were designed to cause maximum damage and the sites had been picked with care. He confirmed that bombs had been planted on brand- new Avon cycles. Similar cycle blasts on September 8, 2006, in Malegaon, Maharashtra, had killed 38 people during a Muslim festival day. Bombs on cycles were also used for the attack on the Faizabad court.

The Malegaon attacks were blamed on LeT and the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India.

The Jaipur attack might have been worse had three unexploded bombs not been defused in the walled city area. Another bomb was defused in the upmarket Raja Park area, triggering fresh fears. Mercifully, the city was keeping calm.

A little-known outfit, Indian Mujahideen , has claimed responsibility for carrying out the fatal blasts in Jaipur on Tuesday. And to buttress its claim, it sent video clips to the media of a cycle strapped with a bag that it claimed held the bomb.

As cops groped for clues to crack the serial blasts in Jaipur, the mysterious video of a brand new cycle added a new twist to the investigations.

While such claims in the aftermath of a major terror attack are not uncommon and have even been used by the real culprits to throw the investigators off the trail, what lends credence to the claim in this instance is that terrorist groups used an identical email ID to announce the blasts in Uttar Pradesh in November 2006.

The video was sent to the media in the capital by Indian Mujahideen late on Wednesday evening. It mentioned the number — 129489 — etched on the frame of the cycle shown in the clip. The Mujahideen claimed that the cycle was the one that was used for the explosion at Kotwali near Choti Chaupad.

In the case of the UP blasts, the email was sent from an internet cafe in New Delhi’s Shakarpur locality half an hour before the explosives went off in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow.

The ID used this time is marginally different.

While the ID used for claiming the UP blasts was "guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr", this time the ID is "guru_alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.co.uk". Tuesday’s mail came with three attachments of videos showing the cycles strapped with bags that apparently had the bombs.