Islamists Blamed for Mumbai Bombs
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
MUMBAI, India — The Mumbai train bombings bore the signs of an Islamic militant group with links in neighboring Pakistan, investigators said yesterday.
P.S. Pasricha, the police chief of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said the modus operandi was “similar to that of the Lashkar-e-Toiba,” a Muslim insurgent group banned by India, Pakistan, and America.
Forensic specialists working at the seven bomb sites will be attempting to link the variety of RDX military explosive used in the attacks with those of recent LeT-linked attacks in Varanasi and New Delhi.
Besides the LeT, suspicion is also falling increasingly on India’s banned Students Islamic Movement of India, whose cadres were reportedly used to “operationalize” the bombing, according to a security source.Working in tandem with the LeT, the SIMI is accused of executing similar strikes on other Indian cities, including the capital, New Delhi, where 55 people were killed last October.
Insurgent organizations seeking to mobilize India’s disaffected poor to carry out terrorist attacks are the apocalyptic fear of the Indian security establishment. Hindu-Muslim tensions have provided fertile recruitment grounds for terrorist organizations like the LeT, which is believed to have concentrated on hiring “local talent” after a reduction of state-sponsored support from Pakistan.
