JAIPUR, India (AP)

Six bombs ripped through crowded parts of an ancient city in western India yesterday, killing at least 45 people and wounding 100 others, police and hospital officials said.

The six explosions in Jaipur took place in markets and several other areas of the city in Rajasthan, a region dotted with palaces and temples that draw hundreds of thousands of Indian and foreign tourists every year, said A.S. Gill, the state's police chief. A seventh bomb was defused before it exploded, he said.

"Obviously, it's a terrorist plot," he told reporters. "The way it has been done, the attempt was to cause the maximum damage to human life."

Bicycles

He added bicycles may have been used in the bombings. But he did not say if the explosives were detonated by suicide bombers riding through the crowds or if the bombs had simply been planted on parked bicycles.

N.S. Shekhawat, the super-intendent of the Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur, where most of the bodies were taken, said at least 45 people were killed. Another 100 people were wounded, police said.

Shortly after the bombings, which began just before 7:30 p.m. (1355 GMT), authorities put New Delhi, India's capital, and Mumbai, the country's financial centre, on high alert, along with several other cities.

Security was also quickly stepped up at airports and railway stations across the country, said India's junior home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal.

One of the blasts in Jaipur reportedly hit a market near a temple dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. Yesterday was the day of worship set aside for Hanuman, and the temple was packed with people offering prayers on the way home from work.

The Press Trust of India news agency said another blast took place near the Johari Bazaar the city's jewellery market, a popular destination for tourists. The tourist season, however, ended in March and there were no immediate indications that foreigners had been caught in the explosions.