…which is about 160 miles northeast of Bombay. Via the news tab (Thanks, Chickpea and kaur):

Two bombs struck in the crowded streets of the western Indian city of Malegaon as Muslim worshippers were returning from Friday afternoon prayers, killing 30 people and wounding 56 in what a top official called “a terrorist act.”[yahoo]

Authorities quickly clamped a curfew on Malegaon, said D.K. Shankaran, a top Maharashtra state official. The city has a long history of religious violence between Muslims and Hindus.[yahoo]

The bomb may have been lashed to a bicycle which was recovered at the scene. The BBC has more:

One of the first journalists to reach the scene of the blasts in Malegaon, Vaishali Balajiwale, told the BBC that the explosion inside the town’s main burial ground for Muslims happened on a day when Muslims pray for their dead.[Beeb]

One eyewitness told her: “There was a big noise when the prayers were on. And then people began running helter skelter for their lives.”[Beeb]

The BBC went on to report that outraged people threw stones at the police after the bombing, which only further stokes my fears of retaliatory violence in an area already affected by tension between Hindus and Muslims. Anti-riot forces are being deployed.

India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has strongly condemned the blasts.[BBC]

He has appealed for peace and communal harmony and has urged police to remain calm.[BBC]

Malegaon, known for its weavers, is a city where Muslims are the majority.

Developing…