Home Ministry issues nation-wide alert in the wake of the deadly blast outside Delhi High Court on Wednesday in which nine people were killed and several others injured.

The financial capital was put on high alert following a blast outside the Delhi High Court, said a police official in Mumbai on Wednesday.

As Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on a large scale in Mumbai, policemen deployed across the city in view of the festivity have been asked to be on alert, a police official said.

“We are on high alert and taking all precautionary measures to prevent any terror attack during the festival. Security has been intensified at vital installations and around Mumbai courts,” the official added.

Nakabandi has been ordered and every vehicle is being checked thoroughly, the official said.

Security has been beefed up in Kolkata in view of the blast that occurred outside the High Court premises in Delhi in which nine people were killed, top police officers here said.

“We are alert and security arrangements are being tightened,” city police commissioner R K Pachnanda told reporters in Kolkata.

Security arrangement in thickly-populated areas in the city is being enhanced, special commissioner of police Shibaji Ghose said.

A high alert was sounded across Bihar in the wake of the blast outside the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that claimed nine lives and left at least 45 injured.

Director General of Police Abhayanand told reporters in Gaya that all police stations were alerted and security tightened across the State.

Police patrolling was intensified and special attention was being paid at railway stations and crowded places in important towns like Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Bhagalpur with static deployment of security men, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has condemned the blast at Delhi High Court, calling it “mindless violence” and a “mind numbing tragedy”.

“Another blast, more mindless violence and mind numbing tragedy,” Omar said on micro-blogging website ‘twitter’.

The Chief Minister, however, said he would not speculate about who was behind the blast and allow the police and other agencies to find that out.

“I would hesitate to comment or speculate on a whodunit. Let the police and others get on with it,” he said.

Omar conveyed “heartfelt sympathies to the victims and their families.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan reviewed the security situation in Mumbai and the rest of the state following the Delhi blast.

Chavan has instructed guardian ministers to remain present in their respective districts on Anant Chaturdashi, when idols are immersed at the end of the 10-day Ganesh festival, and monitor security arrangements.

Security was strengthened across Punjab, Haryana and their joint capital Chandigarh in the wake of the blast outside the Delhi High Court today.

Vigil had been heightened and an alert sounded in the two states and Union Territory Chandigarh after the blast, officials said.

At places like Gurgaon, Faridabad and other National Capital Region towns falling in Haryana, security was tightened and various check points were set up.

Security was also tightened at crowded public places, including the railway stations and important bus terminals, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is currently on a visit to Japan, has strongly condemned the blast.

In a message from Tokyo, the Chief Minister said such cowardly acts should be condemned by all right thinking people.

He urged the people to exercise restraint and help the administration in effectively dealing with the nefarious designs of anti-social elements.