India suspects LeT behind blasts
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, July 13, IRNA
India-Mumbai blasts-Pakistan
The well-coordinated bomb attacks on Mumbai's rail network that left almost 200 dead and more than 700 injured bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant group Lashkar- e-Toiba, a senior officer said on Wednesday.
According to the daily Times, police however said they were still awaiting test results from evidence gathered at the scene of the blasts including several commonly used timing devices believed to have set off the seven blasts within about 10 minutes apart.
Police had known for some months now that Mumbai was a target after a series of raids on suspected Islamic militants netted explosives and weaponry in Maharashtra state, said state police chief PS Pasricha.
The modus operandi appears to be similar to Lashkar-e-Toiba, Pasricha told reporters.
"I cannot categorically say that it was them as those (forensic) reports have yet to come in."
The anti-terrorism force has taken over the inquiry and visited addresses across the city on Wednesday but had not yet arrested anyone, a senior officer told news agencies.
It seems pencil timers were used to carry out the blasts one after the other, a top official from Maharashtra's Home Department said.
We have collected some vital clues in this regard and the Central Forensic Laboratory has been requested to examine them without any delay, he added.
Officials said they had not yet identified any group behind the outrage, but Pasricha did not rule out smaller regional groups operating in concert with a bigger outfit.
Newspaper reports claimed police were investigating growing ties between the Islamic militant group and smaller outfits.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Senior Mumbai police officer Arup Patnaik said officers were out on the streets on Tuesday night but there was no sign of increased communal tensions in the city, which has a Muslim minority.
Lashkar-e-Toiba denied any involvement in the train bombings.
"We strongly condemn the train blasts in Mumbai and deny our group's involvement," Lashkar-e-Toiba spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said in Srinagar.
"Our jihad is only against the Indian troops in Kashmir," he added.
Hizbul Mujahedin and Jamaatud Dawa also condemned the attacks.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed terrorists for the bombs, but declined to speculate on who might be responsible.
Iftikhar Gilani said from New Delhi that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday hailed the people of Mumbai and Srinagar for their speedy return to normal life just a day after the serial bomb blasts.
Reiterating the government's resolve to win the war against terror, Singh told the nation in a televised address that nothing will break the nation's resolve.
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