Pakistan spy agency behind Mumbai bombs - police

Indian police said yesterday they had found evidence that Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the July 11 bombings in Mumbai and Pakistan's military spy agency was behind the plot.

Pakistan and Lashkar swiftly rejected the accusations. A Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman called them baseless and irresponsible.

The bombings of rush-hour commuter trains and stations in India's financial hub, which killed 186 people and wounded hundreds more, was one of the country's worst attacks. In the immediate aftermath, investigators blamed disaffected Indian Muslims with links to old foe Pakistan, and named Lashkar-e-Taiba as a prime suspect.

Yesterday, Mumbai's police chief said his team had cracked the case and found solid evidence as a result of what he called one of India's biggest and most widespread investigations.

"We have solved the July 11 bombings case. The whole attack was planned by Pakistan's ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and their operatives in India," A.N. Roy, Mumbai's police chief, told a news conference.

ISI or the Inter-Services Intelli-gence agency is Pakistan's military spy agency while Lashkar is a frontline Islamist group fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir. Although Lashkar was banned by Pakistan in early 2002, security analysts suspect it is still in favour with the ISI.

"These blasts were executed very professionally and with high precision and were well planned," Roy said.

"But we made slow progress, used scientific methods, followed every small lead... it has been a beautiful piece of highly professional investigation."