Taj Mahal security stepped up after bomb in cinema

Taj Mahal security stepped up after bomb in cinema
REUTERS

LUCKNOW, Dec 15: Security has been beefed up in and around the Taj Mahal, India's most celebrated monument, after police discovered a bomb in a cinema in the tourist town of Agra.

The bomb was found under a theatre seat on Wednesday longbefore it was set to go off, Agra district police Chief Subesh Kumar Singh told Reuters.

"Had it not been for timely detection by one of thesweepers of the hall, the explosion could have been disastrous. Security has been beefed up in and around the Taj Mahal in view of this development," Singh said.

The 17th century marble mausoleum, built by Mughal emperorShah Jehan for his wife Mumtaz, draws thousands of tourists each day.

Last year, the government ended a ban imposed on nightvisits to the Taj Mahal in 1984 after suspected terrorist threats against the monument.