3 blasts in Gorakhpur, 6 hurt

Six persons including a woman were injured in serial blasts in the heart of Gorakhpur town of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, about 250 km from Lucknow on Tuesday.

The blasts occurred within 15 minutes of each other in the heart of the town around 7 pm, causing panic among local people. Shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and ran for cover as cops moved in to take stock of the situation.

"Fortunately, the blasts were of low intensity causing only marginal damage and minor injuries to the victims", State Principal Home Secretary K Chandramauli told this scribe in Lucknow on Tuesday evening.

The bombs were kept inside tiffin boxes planted on bicycles abandoned at three different places --

near a petrol pump, a restaurant and outside some shops.

Chandramauli said, "It could be the handiwork of mischief-mongers intending to incite religious violence in the communally sensitive town." However, the role of extremists is also not being ruled out.

"We are not taking any chances and the local administration has been advised to take all necessary steps to ward off panic caused on account of the blasts", he added.

Meanwhile, police vigil has been intensified not only in Gorakhpur but also in all other communally sensitive cities of the state, particularly the ancient Hindu temple town of Ayodhya, barely 100 km from Gorakhpur.