India on high alert following cinema bombs

India was on high alert today after bombs tore through two cinemas in the capital yesterday that were showing a film considered…

India was on high alert today after bombs tore through two cinemas in the capital yesterday that were showing a film considered offensive by some Sikhs.

As police hunted the bombers, a small blast today wounded one person in Delhi, where Sikh separatists carried out a wave of bombings in the 1980s.

No group has claimed responsibility for yesterday's blasts that killed one person and wounded dozens. Police erected temporary barricades on Delhi's roads and put railway stations and airports on alert, but said there was no reason for panic.

Many theatres across the country pulled the film as Manmohan Singh, India's first Sikh prime minister, visited victims in hospital early today.

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The blasts, which ripped through cinemas packed with weekend crowds, occurred on the first anniversary of Singh's government.

The theatres were showing a film called Jo Bole So Nihal, the title of which is part of a Sikh religious and battle cry that translates as "Blessed is the one who says God is eternal".

Some Sikhs had taken offence at the title of the Hindi language film and to some scenes that showed characters entering Sikh temples without removing their shoes or covering their heads, considered sacrilege.