MUMBAI — Indian officials named Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba on Thursday as the prime suspect behind bombings that killed at least 156 people in Mumbai, as police said they had detained about 20 people.
Speaking on Pakistani television Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf offered assurances to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of cooperation into Tuesday's coordinated attacks on India's largest city and financial hub.
Indian investigators have made sketches of three suspects seen at sites of the attacks, which targeted crowded railway carriages and stations.
"So far it looks like there was a substantial involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba with local support," D.K. Shankaran, the most senior bureaucrat in Maharashtra state government, told Reuters.
There was some confusion in Mumbai over the death toll, with police saying 156 people died while the Maharashtra state government said 179, though more than 700 people were wounded.
Singh will visit Mumbai on Friday, an aide said.
Lashkar, or LeT, has long operated in Indian-ruled Kashmir, but is believed to have expanded its area of operations recently.
Prime Suspect
It was blamed for bomb attacks on markets in New Delhi in October that killed more than 60 people, as well as bombs in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi in March that killed 15 people.
Lashkar was also held partly responsible for a 2001 attack on the parliament in New Delhi that almost led to war months later.
Just as he did after the attacks on New Delhi nine months ago, Musharraf pledged Pakistani government support for any probe.
"I assure Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Pakistan government and I myself are with him in any investigation he wants to carry out," Musharraf told Business Plus television news channel.
A peace process begun more than two and a half years ago has improved relations between India and Pakistan from 2002 when the nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war for a fourth time. But analysts say the process badly needs a filip.
Indian TV channels also linked the attacks to the Students' Islamic Movement of India, banned in 2001 for allegedly trying to stir religious unrest over the U.S.-led war on terror and which is thought to have links with Lashkar.
"We cannot put the blame on any particular group right now, but we have some indication because this attack looks similar to LeT's earlier attacks," said anti-terrorism squad chief K.P. Raghuvanshi.
Lashkar has denied any role in what it called "inhuman and barbaric acts". Pakistan banned Lashkar in 2002.
Police
Authorities in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, formed a special team of officers on Thursday to investigate the bombings.
"Around 20 people have been detained at various places," said A.N. Roy, Mumbai's police chief.
The blasts brought global condemnation. U.S. President George W. Bush called Singh to convey Washington's support to India to fight terrorism, an Indian official said.
Bombs were left on luggage racks in crowded compartments, officials said. Shankaran said it appeared that RDX, a powerful plastic explosive, was used in at least two of the seven blasts. Police said they could have been set off by electrical timers.
Four young men were handed over to police on Thursday by a crowd at a Mumbai railway station for behaving suspiciously. Police said the men tried to throw away their bags when confronted by passengers and were still being questioned.
The attacks took place in the span of just 11 minutes and were reminiscent of serial bomb blasts on commuter rail networks in Madrid and London in the past two years.
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