A series of explosions across New Delhi killing at least eight people Saturday and injured 61, the mayor said. A Muslim militant group claimed responsibility.

CNN-IBN, a local television news channel, reported that it received an e-mail sent just before the blasts that read: “In the name of Allah, Indian Mujahedeen strikes back once more. ... Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can.”

New Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra said as many as seven blasts across the city killed eight people and injured 61.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the four blasts were apparently coordinated, and police were investigating. The number of casualties was not immediately known.

The Indian Mujahadeen was unknown before May when it said it was behind a series of bombings in the western city of Jaipur, which killed 61 people. The group also claimed responsibility for a series of blasts in the western state of Gujarat in July which killed at least 45.

Two of the explosions in New Delhi occurred just 300 yards apart in Connaught Place, the city’s central business district, just as night was falling. The usually crowded streets quickly filled with screaming police cars, fire engines and gawking crowds.

One went off by a metro station entrance on a major road and a police officer at the scene said a bomb appeared to have been left inside a garbage bin, but authorities were still investigating. He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The sidewalk was covered with scattered garbage, broken glass and a bright red pool of blood.

Raju Chohan was walking through the area with a friend when he “heard a deafening sound.” He said he saw six or seven people being taken away.

A second blast in Connaught Place went off inside a park crowded with families and young people relaxing on the grass.

Raj Kumar, 30, a store clerk in the area, said he was nearby when he heard the explosion.

“Everyone was running every way,” he said. “They heard the bomb and they just started running.”