MUMBAI, Sept 30: A bomb blast that killed seven people and wounded 82 in western India on Monday night is being treated as a terrorist attack, police said, fearing further strikes.

“It is a terrorist attack,” the head of Mumbai’s anti-terrorism squad, Hemant Karkare, said as he headed to the town of Malegaon, 280 kilometres northeast of Mumbai.

Asked whether he feared further attacks, he added: “It can’t be ruled out.”

The blast happened in a crowded market near a mosque in Malegaon late on Monday.

A second, similar attack also took place in a predominantly Muslim area of Modasa, in neighbouring Gujarat state, killing a boy and wounding nine others.

Karkare said a team of anti-terrorism squad officers would be in Malegaon over the coming days as part of the investigation, and forensics experts were sifting through the debris to determine the type of explosives used.

“Our teams are there assisting in the investigation and trying to locate the owner of the two-wheeler used in the blast,” he said.

“Our forensics people are also on the spot. They are trying to ascertain what kind of blast it was, whether it was a crude bomb, remote-controlled or a timer. The situation is a bit chaotic.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and no arrests had been made, Karkare said, refusing to speculate on who might be behind it.

Some initial reports suggested the carnage was caused by the accidental explosion of gas cylinders on a bicycle.

But Karkare said that theory had now been discounted because it occurred outside a roadside restaurant and the offices of a Muslim students’ party.

“It was not an accident,” he said.

Police in the predominantly Muslim town said they were now trying to keep the peace, after rioting and stone-throwing broke out following the blast, forcing officers to fire shots in the air to control angry crowds.

Five police officers were injured and a curfew was put in place, they said.

Two years ago, simultaneous bombings in Malegaon killed 38 people and wounded more than 100. Most of the victims were Muslims.

Gujarat, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, is also considered particularly sensitive because it was the scene of serious rioting in 2002, when an estimated 2,000 people -- mostly Muslims -- were killed by Hindu mobs.

The state’s commercial capital Ahmedabad was hit by a string of 16 bombs in July this year that killed 45 and wounded more than 160. Police announced earlier on Monday they had found 17 “crude explosive devices” dumped in rubbish.

The latest explosions came after a wave of attacks in Indian cities claimed by the Indian Mujahideen.

Several other Indian cities -- Jaipur, Bangalore and New Delhi -- have been hit by serial bombings since May. Last Saturday, two people died and 22 were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the capital.—AFP