A series of near-simultaneous explosions shook courthouses Friday in three north Indian cities, with blasts going off in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad, killing at least four people, officials said. At least two bombs went off in Faizabad, killing four lawyers and injuring 10 to 12 more, said R.N. Singh, a local police officer. One of the bombs was rigged to a motorcycle, he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. At least 12 lawyers were injured in the explosion in Varanasi, one of India's holiest cities, said Vipin Mishra, spokesman for the Home Ministry of Uttar Pradesh state, where all three cities are located. The blasts went off less than 15 minutes apart inside court complexes, but not in courtrooms, Mishra said. «This is the handiwork of some group that wants to disturb communal harmony in the state,» the junior federal home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, told reporters. «They may have targeted the courts because large crowds gather in courthouses here.»
