The New York Times is reporting that the explosives used in the Mumbai train bombings was RDX, a very powerful plastic explosive. Police are focusing on Kashmiri separatists from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) (I hate that particular euphemism for groups that carry out terror attacks).
Service resumed early today on the rail network that was struck during the evening rush hour on Tuesday. Though the trains were not as crowded as usual, many commuters overcame their fears sufficiently to ride them again.
Police spent the day combing through the wreckage of the seven passenger cars that were bombed, looking for forensic evidence that might help them identify the culprits. Experts were examining a timer found near the site of one of the blasts. Initial tests suggested that RDX, a powerful plastic explosive, had been used, the home ministry said.
The director general of police in Maharashtra, the Indian state that includes Mumbai, said that officers had “no concrete evidence” to implicate Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamic militant organization that is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, a mostly Muslim state that is also claimed, and is partly occupied, by Pakistan.
But the director general, P. S. Pasricha, said “the modus operandi does suggest their involvement.” The organization and scale of the attacks, the type of explosive involved and the use of remote control devices all suggested that Lashkar-e-Toiba may have been involved, perhaps in conjunction with local groups, he said.
“Still, it would be premature and misleading to say anything about their involvement at this point of investigations as forensic lab reports are awaited,” he added.
Officials in Delhi were spoke even more cautiously. Rajneesh Kumar, the deputy director of communications at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said it was too early to comment on who might have set off the bombs.
“Initially, we were focusing on the relief and rescue operation, but now the investigation is under way,” he said in a telephone interview.
Asked to comment on widespread speculation that Kashmiri militants were involved, he said: “It would be very premature to go into which leads we are currently pursuing. The security agencies are looking into who might be behind this, but discussing the involvement of one particular group or another would at this stage be a very speculative exercise.”
Representatives from Lashkar-e-Toiba, whose name means Army of the Pure, telephoned several Indian news organizations to deny involvement. “These are inhuman and barbaric acts” a man who identified himself as “Doctor Ghaznavi”, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters. “Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people.”
Meanwhile, the Times of India has a little background that is of interest. A recent arms and explosives seizure made in India included quantities of RDX. The fugitive member of LeT who was involved in that event is high on the suspect list.
MUMBAI: Zaibuddin Ansari, Lashkar-e-Toiba module leader who is missing after his role into the Aurangabad arms and explosives seizure was exposed, is under the scanner of the Anti-Terrorists Squad of Mumbai Police and central intelligence agencies in connection with Mumbai train bomb blasts, sources said.
Ansari, who is believed to be the brain behind mobilization of arms and explosives in Marathwada region of central Maharashtra, is suspected to be the link between LeT and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Police is probing the role of LeT and SIMI in the present blasts.
Though the ATS seized 17 AK-47 assault rifles and 43 kg of RDX apart from arrested 16 persons in the Aurangabad arms and explosive seizure case, it has not been able to get through the motive behind mobilization of the weapons and explosives, the sources said.
Lest we forget, there are other countries under assault by terror, all of it with ties that seem to stretch back to Iran. Isn't that interesting? Now I wonder if the fact that China and Russia withdrew their blocking tactics and voted to send Iran to the UNSC had anything to do with the fact that Iran appears to be getting a bit worrisome to them as well. Fallout in China isn't a good way to kick off the Olympics.