No terror outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The police were also examining the possibility of the use of RDX as the blasts were “big in intensity”.

Police said a bomb was defused tonight near the Hanuman temple.

Being a Tuesday, the devotees, many returning from work, had gathered in large numbers at the Hanuman temples. The timing of the blasts was also crucial — they occurred around the time of aarti.

“According to the information I have received, 60 people have died and 150 have been injured,” said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who rushed back to the state capital from Jodhpur. She spoke over phone with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

The Centre has sent the bomb squad of the National Security Guards to Jaipur.

Doctors said many of the victims had shrapnel injuries. They feared that the toll could go up.

The blasts led to a near stampede-like situation as panic-stricken people ran for cover. Most of the injured were rushed to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital. Bodies of several victims lay in the corridors. Medical teams were being rushed from Ajmer and Kota to Jaipur.

Severed limbs, mangled heaps of cycle rickshaws and smashed windscreens of cars littered the blast sites. “We heard a big sound and what was left was a plume of smoke and blood all around,” said an injured eyewitness as he was taken to hospital.

Sriprakash Rent-a-Quote Jaiswal

Within minutes of the blasts, TV cameras know where to go: Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal. He obliged. Consider:

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