Chandigarh, Punjab, India: October 15, 2007 - Police has claimed here today that they suspect Muslim militants allied with Punjab separatists behind a blast that killed seven people and injured 32 at a crowded cinema hall in Ludhiana. They have further confirmed that plastic explosives were used in the bomb.

"The leads into the blast indicated Muslim fundamentalists could have collaborated with Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Commando Force (both Punjabi militant groups) to plant the bomb," senior police intelligence officer Jagdish Mittal told reporters in Ludhiana.

As a result the authorities have increased the security forces in various multiplexes, railway and bus stations. 

The background of Punjab has been that it saw over a decade of violence in the 1980s when Sikh militants demanded a separate Sikh homeland they called Khalistan.

Indian intelligence agencies also say Islamist militant groups, backed by Pakistani spy agency ISI, increasingly target Muslim and Hindu religious places to trigger communal clashes between the two communities, as per Reuters.

Sunday's blast followed a bomb explosion last week after evening prayers at the Muslim Ajmer Sharif shrine, in which at least two people were killed.

Newspaper reports say police suspect Bangladeshi militants were involved in that blast, again backed by Pakistani militants and the ISI.

Photo courtesy: Reuters