Six bombs -- three in Varansi, two in Faizabad and one in Lucknow -- some planted on cycles, went off within a span of 15 minutes in the crowded court complexes between 1310 hours and 1325 hours.

A near stampede broke out in and around the blast spots with many injured bleeding profusely running for their life while several other wounded lay on the floor crying for help.

Police immediately rushed to the spots and cordoned off the area and helped people in rushing the injured to various hospitals.

Apart from Uttar Pradesh, security was put on high alert in several parts of the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

S B Shirodkar, Senior Superintendent of Police in the temple town of Varanasi, which was the target of a terror strike in 2006, said nine people were killed and 45 others injured, some of them seriously, when two bombs planted on cycles went off in quick succession.

He said the injured have been admitted to four hospitals including Benares Hindu University Hospital. He said the explosives, planted on cycles, went off when the court premises was crowded with lawyers and litigants.

Four of the dead in Varanasi were identified as Bodh Raj Verma (advocate), Yagya Narain Singh, Moolchand Singh and a 11-year-old boy Sanjeev Kumar.

Priyatosh Tripathi of the bomb disposal squad in Varanasi said the two imporvised explosive devices were planted on two new bicycles and placed in the busy area of the court complex.

In Faizabad town, adjoining holy town of Ayodhya, five people were killed and 25 injured when two bombs in bags exploded in two lawyers' chambers.

Four of the dead were identified as Radhikaprasad Mishra (lawyer), his assistant Babu Ram, Om Prakash Pandey (stamp vendor) and Kesari Prasad (client), officials said.

They said the first explosion was minor in nature while the second claimed casualities ripping through the two advocate chambers. Three of the seriously injured were taken to King George Medical College Hospital in Lucknow.

Five people were killed in Faizabad town adjoining Ayodhya while an equal number died in two blasts that rocked the collectorate complex housing lower courts in the holy town of Varanasi.

In Lucknow, the bomb was planted on a cycle near an electricity complex. However, there was no causality. A live bomb with a timer device attached to it was also found and defused.

Calling it a terror strike, UP Chief Minister Mayawati said security has been put on high alert and efforts are on to nab those responsible for it. She said six bombs -- three in Varansai, two in Faizabad and one in Lucknow -- had been detonated by the terrorists.

She announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

The blasts came a week after the Uttar Pradesh police along with central security agencies busted a Jaish-e-Mohammed module who wanted to target Rahul Gandhi. Lawyers had thrashed the three JeM militants when they were being produced before a court in Lucknow.

Leader of Opposition L K Advani asked the Home Minister to present a detailed report of all the serial blasts which have rocked the country in recent past.

"We can see that serial blasts have become a recurrent trend and the minister should explain what steps have been taken to stop such incidents," he said.

"Till now we have not been able to apprehend the culprits in incidents where the operation was carried out by military precision," he said.

Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal made a similar statement in the Rajya Sabha.

He said all the blasts took place adjacent to court premises and near cycle stands, he said.