New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) At least nine people were killed and 45 injured when a powerful bomb hidden in a suitcase exploded outside the Delhi High Court Wednesday morning at its peak hour. This is the third major bombing in India since the 2008 Mumbai attack.


Home Secretary R.K. Singh said the explosion took place around 10.30 a.m. outside Gate No 5 of the high court complex located close to India Gate in the centre of the capital.

The gate is usually crowded on weekdays with a long queue of visitors waiting to get inside.

"There are nine dead. Forty-five are injured. This bomb was in a suitcase. We have remains of the suitcase," Singh told reporters.

"All the injured have been evacuated," the home secretary said.

Eyewitnesses said the number of injured was closer to 50 or 60.

According to an eyewitness, Bhagwan Das: "The explosion severed the limbs of several people."

The home secretary said investigating teams were already at the blast site. "We have the National Investigation Agency team right there. We have people from the forensic laboratories there, we have NSG (National Security Guard) team there to collect evidence."

Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dharmendra Kumar told reporters that police had cordoned off the area and were requesting people not to converge at the site.

Wednesday's blast comes after the July 13 triple bombings in Mumbai that killed over 25 people. Before that, in February 2010, an explosion inside a popular eatery in Pune claimed 17 lives, four of them foreigners.

The terror attack Wednesday is also the second time in four months that the Delhi High Court has been targeted. On May 25, a low intensity explosion took place without causing any damage. The explosives were hidden in a plastic bag near a car in a service lane outside the court.