At least six people were killed and 62 injured in two separate blasts yesterday in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi in northern India, officials said.
Television reports said up to 12 may have died.
"All entry points to the area have been sealed," said V.N. Rai, inspector-general of police in Uttar Pradesh state.
One explosion was reported in a packed Hindu temple and another occurred in a railway station in Varanasi city, a federal interior ministry official said.
Private TV channel NDTV said 12 people were feared killed in the blasts but officials said they could not confirm the report.
Temple-studded Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges river in Uttar Pradesh state, is one of the holiest cities for India's majority Hindu population.
The blast at the Sankat Mochan temple could have "several casualties as it is usually packed with thousands of devotees" on Tuesday, a holy day for Hindus, the official said.
"There are some casualties," Yashpal Singh, the state's police chief, told the Star News TV channel. "The position is not clear because there is a lot of crowd there. Security has been increased in the city."
As news of the explosions spread, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm, said his spokesman, Sanjaya Baru. He did not say what caused the blasts.
"The blast appears to have happened on board the Shivganga Express," police inspector Mohammed Hashmi said.
Police also found two primed bombs near a restaurant at Varanasi's main cremation site on the banks of the Ganges river, Hashmi said, as police evacuated the temple and closed off the areas.
"Both the bombs were lying outside the restaurants and they were live," he said.
The explosions came days after Muslims and Hindus battled each other in the nearby city of Lucknow, and angry Hindus looted Muslim shops and burned vehicles in the coastal resort of Goa.
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