LUCKNOW, India, May 22 (Reuters) - Three bombs exploded in a communally sensitive northern Indian city on Tuesday, wounding five people, police said, days after a bomb killed 11 people at a mosque in southern India.

Tuesday's attacks in Gorakhpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh occurred in a busy market area.

"Apparently, these were low-intensity bombs because the damage caused is marginal and injuries to the people minor," Uttar Pradesh Principal Home Secretary K. Chandramauli told Reuters.

"Investigations are on and I don't rule out the possibility that this is the work of mischief-mongers who intended to incite communal violence."

Initial investigations showed that the three bombs were placed in lunch boxes on bicycles, Chandramauli said.

The attacks came after a bomb blast in a historic mosque in the southern city of Hyderabad killed 11 worshippers on Friday, triggering clashes between angry Muslim crowds and police.

Five people were shot dead by police in the clashes.

Indian intelligence agencies and security analysts say Islamist militant groups, backed by Pakistani spy agency ISI, increasingly target Muslim and Hindu religious places to try to spark communal clashes.

In January, at least two people died in Gorakhpur after a drunken scuffle between two wedding guests snowballed into riots between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

AlertNet news is provided by