NEW DELHI: The Japanese government closed the consular section of its embassy in India and warned its citizens to avoid crowded places such as markets and train stations after receiving an e-mail warning of a possible attack.

Japan’s embassy in New Delhi said in a statement in Japanese on its website that it had received an e-mail warning of an attack on New Delhi’s popular market district of Sarojini Nagar, where at least 66 people were killed in a 2005 bomb attack. The consular section of the embassy would be closed from July 30 “for a while,” according to a spokesman.

Delhi police are investigating the e-mail, said Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman. Indian authorities have been on a high alert since at least 45 people were killed when a series of 16 bombs ripped through Ahmedabad, the main city of Gujarat state, on Saturday.—Reuters