Sixty people were killed in a series of bomb attacks in India's western city of Jaipur yesterday evening, police, officials and witnesses said.

At least six bombs, which exploded in markets and near a Hindu temple in Jaipur's crowded walled city just as many people took to the streets after a sweltering day, also wounded up to 150 people, officials said.

Rajasthan state government officials said between 50 and 60 people were killed in the explosions, the deadliest bomb attacks in India in nearly two years.

"According to the information I have received 60 people have died and 150 have been injured," Rajasthan's Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying.

But the state's police chief gave lower figures. "Forty-five people have been killed and at least 100 have been injured," A. S. Gill, Director General of Police in the state of Rajasthan, told reporters.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But India has previously blamed Pakistan-based Islamist militants fighting to end New Delhi's rule of Kashmir for such bombings. In July 2006, seven explosions ripped through Mumbai's railway system killing more than 180 people. That attack, like many others, was blamed on Islamic militants based in neighbouring Pakistan and aided by local Muslims.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the bombings and appealed for calm.

Police said RDX high explosives were used in the bombs, with a range of around 15 metres in radius.

TV stations showed wrecked bicycles and pools of blood, with sirens blaring in the background. They said the blasts had caused panic in the narrow streets.

One blast was near a Hindu temple, where large crowds gather every Tuesday in honour of the monkey God Hanuman.

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