NEW DELHI, Sept 27: A bomb blast in a crowded flower market killed a boy and injured 18 people here on Saturday, raising fears of more terror strikes like the ones that rocked the Indian capital a fortnight ago.

Police said two unidentified men on a motorcycle left a parcel on the busy road and a 12-year old boy picked it up, triggering a loud explosion in the Mehruali market.

The locality borders Delhi’s mediaeval Qutub Minar monument popular with tourists. The weekend explosion drove away shoppers and left markets in much of the city nearly empty.

Riding a black motorcycle, the two men in black dress and wearing helmets, dropped a black polythene bag containing the explosives opposite an electronic goods at about 2.15 pm, Deputy Commissioner of Police H S Dhaliwal told reporters.

The boy picked it up to give it back to the bikers. They refused and fled the place but the boy was still keen on giving it to them when it exploded killing him instantaneously and injuring 18 others.