Car bombs exploded at a crowded jewelry market and a historic landmark in Mumbai yesterday, killing at least 46 people, wounding more than 150 others and shaking buildings in India's financial capital.

　　No one immediately claimed responsibility, although police suspected Muslim extremists.

　　The bombs, hidden in the trunks of two taxis, blew up within five minutes of each other, police said. Several people were being interrogated, including one taxi driver.

　　"There are many jehadi groups out, let loose by the enemy country," said Ranjit Sharma, a police com-missioner. Jehadi groups are operated by Islamic militants.

　　The "enemy country" was a clear reference to Pakistan, India's longtime rival. Such an accusation could threaten to increase tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

　　Sharma specifically mentioned the Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a militant students' group outlawed in September 2001, and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, one of more than a dozen Islamic rebel groups fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989, seeking independence for the divided Himalayan province or its merger with Muslim dominated Pakistan.

　　The lunchtime bombings came hours after the release of a long-anticipated archaeological report on a religious site in northern India claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. The dispute has been linked to previous bombings.

　　However, the attacks appeared aimed more at the city itself - the nation's financial heart - than at members of a particular reli-gion. Stock prices plunged after the blast reports. The benchmark index of Mumbai Stock Exchange, the Sensex, closed at 4,005, down 119 points or 3 percent.

　　One of the bombs explo-ded at the Gateway of India, a well-known historic landmark and popular lunchtime eating spot frequented by both Hindus and Muslims. The other was at a crowded neighborhood of jewelry stores, where many shops are owned by Hindus but many of the artisans are Muslims.

　　"The explosions were aimed at targeting the economic activity of the city, as well as Mumbai as a tourist destination," said Sushil Kumar Shinde, chief minister of Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located.

　　"The blasts have thrown up a challenge to the resilience of this city," he said at a press conference, urging people not to panic.

　　Telephone lines were jammed and mobile phone services briefly crashed as panicked residents called family and friends. Police issued security alerts for Mumbai and the Indian capital, New Delhi, calling policemen back from leave in case of further trouble.

　　The death toll totaled 46 by last night, Sharma said.

　　Javed Ahmed, a police commissioner for Mumbai, said at least 150 people were injured.

　　Asked if the explosions could have been to avenge killings last year in the western state of Gujarat - violence sparked by reaction to the disputed religious site - Ahmed said, "It could be that."

　　Pakistan, with whom India has engaged in decades of bloodshed, con-demned the attacks. The neighbors have fought three wars - two over the divided region of Kashmir. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of supporting militants, which Islamabad denies.

　　"We deplore these attacks and we sympathize with the victims and their families," Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. "I think that such wanton targeting of civilians should be condemned in the strongest possible terms."

　　The carnage shocked even those accustomed to bloodshed.

　　"I have never seen anything so horrible," said S. Manoj, a doctor at Mumbai's J.J. Hospital. "It was just body parts, some with their abdominal organs hanging out, some with no faces at all. The bodies were all burnt."

　　He said some of the injured had been trampled in stampedes after the explosions, and came in with multiple broken bones.

　　The explosion terrified Bombay residents.

　　"The building we were in shook and we heard a loud noise," said Ingrid Alva, a public relations consultant who works near the gateway. "I rushed out and saw the crowds at the Gateway of India ... We saw some body parts lying around, before we were told to move away by the police."

　　The city quickly turned out to support the victims. More than 100 people donated blood for the wounded at J.J. Hospital.