Friday, September 15 2006 11:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Malegaon: "A day after a bomb scare created panic here, security was tightened across this textile town, especially around mosques, ahead of the Friday prayers," officials said.

The Janata Dal-United called on people to observe a 'black day' tomorrow to protest the four blasts last Friday that killed 31 people and injured nearly 300.

JD-U leader and former MLA Nihal Ahmed said the police should arrest those responsible for the bombings by September 18, failing which his party's workers would start a satyagraha in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue here on September 20.

Ahmed asked people to hoist flag blacks and to wear black arm-bands tomorrow as a mark of protest.

Meanwhile, a team of Janata Dal-Secular leaders including former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is expected to visit Malegaon today (Sept 15,2006)

The discovery of an unclaimed box in the vicinity of a shopping complex and a mosque here had sparked a bomb scare yesterday. A National Security Guard bomb squad examined the box and found it contained only lumps of soil mixed with powder used in firecrackers that were fitted with batteries.

Police officials said the box had been placed in the area to create 'communal tension'.

The bomb scare created tension in the town, which gradually returned to normal today with residents resuming their daily activities.