The death toll from this week’s bombings in India’s financial capital has risen to 19 as Mumbai police continue to systematically sift through the evidence gathered from the site of the three blasts.
A police official says teams of investigators have fanned out to at least three different cities in the country to probe the existence of terrorist outfits that may have links to Wednesday’s bombings.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Photo: EPA
Police said yesterday that the death toll in the blasts had climbed to 19, with two injured men succumbing to their wounds.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, and investigators have not named any suspects.
Meanwhile, India brushed off speculation tying the bombings to Pakistan and said on Friday it remained committed to recently renewed peace talks with its rival neighbor.
The moves showed how little appetite New Delhi has for escalating tensions in the region while it focuses on maintaining economic growth in the South Asian nation of 1.2 billion people.
While future revelations about the culprits in the blasts on Wednesday could still sabotage relations between the countries, the Indian government so far has rejected opposition demands for a heavy response against Pakistan.
On Friday, India said it was working out dates for the next round of negotiations expected this month between top officials from both countries.
“The talks with Pakistan are on schedule,” foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
Pakistan’s leaders had quickly condemned the blasts and have welcomed India’s measured response. In a statement on Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani “expressed satisfaction at the resolve of both Pakistan and India to continue with their bilateral dialogue, and not get deterred by terrorists’ designs to derail the dialogue once again.”
The coordinated triple bombings were the worst terror attack in India since 10 Pakistan-based militants rampaged through the city in November 2008, killing 166 people.
Investigators examined forensic evidence and footage from closed circuit cameras on Friday for clues about who orchestrated the blasts.
“People are being questioned on the basis of our previous database and known linkages. We also have identified the scooter in which one of the bombs was planted,” Indian Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
He also said investigators had intercepted an e-mail sent from outside Mumbai, but declined to give details.
Intelligence analysts say the attack bore the hallmarks of the Indian Mujahideen, a shadowy Islamic militant group that is said to have been supported by Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
Leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly criticized the government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not taking a harder line with Pakistan.
“Manmohan Singh, sir, what is the nature of your relationship with Pakistan?” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked angrily at a news conference on Friday.
Government officials have refused to take the bait.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Thursday that investigators were not ruling out the possibility the attacks were aimed at scuttling the talks.
G. Parthasarthy, a former Indian ambassador to Pakistan, said it would have been counterproductive for the government to overreact, especially on something as important as peace talks, before a culprit was named.
“If concrete proof emerges, I have no idea what the government will do,” he said.
The talks, though unlikely to produce concrete results because of political weakness on both sides, at least will lower the temperature between the nations, said Ashok Mehta, a retired Indian army general and leading strategic analyst.
“They’ve tried both talking and not talking, and the experience has been that talking is the most viable option,” he said.
In addition, cutting off talks would be a politically damaging admission of failure for Singh, who is already fighting off a raft of corruption allegations against his government.
“The prime minister has staked his reputation and his political fortune on being able to change Pakistan’s behavior and get them to live as peaceful and friendly neighbors,” Mehta said.
India and Pakistan, nuclear powers that have fought three wars since independence in 1947, had been engaged in reportedly fruitful negotiations before the Mumbai siege nearly three years ago.
India quickly broke off the peace talks, demanding Pakistan crack down on those accused in the attack.
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