At least five bombs exploded in quick succession in crowded markets and streets in the heart of India's capital New Delhi yesterday, killing at least 10 people and injuring scores more, police said.

The Indian Mujahideen militant group, which says it has carried out several major attacks in recent months, sent an e-mail to local television stations saying it was responsible for the blasts.

Police and witnesses said two went off in dustbins in and around Connaught Place, a shopping and dining area popular with tourists and locals in the centre of the city. Others exploded in busy markets around the city, within minutes of each other.

"Ten people have died so far," Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal told reporters, adding that two more bombs were found and defused. "They do not seem to be of very high intensity."

Hundreds of people have been killed in a wave of bombings in India in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains.

Police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India, but say local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

One bomb exploded in a newly constructed park in the centre of the Connaught Place roundabout, built above one of the main stations of the Delhi Metro.

Another went off in a dustbin near a metro station entrance on a main arterial road leading into the area, housing the offices of several foreign banks and multinational companies.

"Around 6.30 p.m. we heard a very loud noise, then we saw people running all over the place," said Chanchal Kumar, a witness whose shirt was soaked in blood of several victims he had helped shift into ambulances.

"There were about 100-200 people around this place," he said, adding the blast site was crowded.

Other injured people were carried away in police vans while a three-wheeler auto-rickshaw parked near one dustbin was badly damaged, witnesses said.