MALEGAON, India — Relatives wept Saturday over the cruelly maimed bodies of 31 Muslim worshippers killed in a double bombing, and troops fanned out across one of India's most volatile cities while the leader of the ruling party appealed for calm.

Authorities lifted a curfew in Malegaon, but said they remained alert, fearing revenge attacks. Two bombs rigged to bicycles exploded almost simultaneously in throngs of Muslims as they left Friday prayers at a mosque.

More than 100 people were injured, some in a stampede that followed as people tried to flee the mosque. Indian news reports said the death toll was likely to rise.

Authorities said the situation was under control, and spoke of a wider conspiracy to disrupt peace between India's Hindus and Muslims.

Sonia Gandhi, the head of the ruling Congress party, visited the wounded and toured the blast site.

"We all have to do our bit to contain communal violence because these terrorist acts were aimed at creating a divide in the society," she told reporters.

"I came here to see the damage caused ... and above all to meet the people and give my condolences to them," she said. "The most important thing at this juncture is to maintain communal harmony."

Thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers watched over hundreds of Muslims praying for the victims in mosques across Malegaon, a city of about 500,000 that is 75 percent Islamic.

At the city's hospitals, relatives of victims wept as they watched bodies being readied for funerals. Rasiq Pingari's 26-year-old nephew Iqbal was killed during a trip to Malegaon to meet his new wife's relatives.

"My nephew had just gone to pray. We were terrified when we heard about the blasts and when we saw him with his abdomen blown up in the hospital it was the worst sight ever," Pingari said.

"He doesn't even live here. They were married in March," Pingari said. "Now who will look after his wife and two sisters?"

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Malegaon, about 180 miles northeast of Mumbai, has been scarred by decades of religious violence. In 2001, 15 people were killed in rioting by Hindus and Muslims. Muslim migrants, mainly from northern Uttar Pradesh state, have set up small textile businesses in the city, known for its cotton and muslin.

The blasts occurred at the front and rear entrances of one of the city's main mosques on a Muslim festival day when there were at least 800 people in and around the shrine.

"People were stunned. There was blood all over," said a shaken Nadeem Shaikh, who was outside the mosque and injured his hand. "Children tried to run out and many were trampled. Many beggars waiting outside for alms were also killed."

Other witnesses said the blasts occurred midway through the half-hour-long afternoon prayers for the Muslim festival of Shabe Barat.

The festival, the Night of Fortune, is when Muslims hold nightlong prayers seeking divine blessings, give generous handouts to beggars and exchange sweets with neighbors and relatives.

In Faran hospital, red-eyed relatives wept and surrounded the beds of victims.

An 8-year old child, his head bandaged, lay moaning on a hospital bed. "He had gone with other boys to pray. We came running to the hospital as soon as we heard about the blast," said Fahim Khan, the boy's elder brother. "The doctor said he will pull through."