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03/12/2006:

"India links Pakistani-based terror group to shrine blasts"

NEW DELHI -- Indian intelligence agencies have identified terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba as the prime suspect behind the Varanasi blasts.

The Indian Express newspaper said Friday the intelligence agencies told the cabinet committee on security, a key security committee of the federal government, that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba militant outfit was the prime suspect in the Varanasi blasts and had most probably used operatives from Bangladesh and local elements to carry out the bombings.

"The status report presented to the CCS pointed out that the evidence collected so far indicated that LeT was the mastermind behind the bomb blasts though LeT men were not on the ground to personally set off the bombs. For that, the LeT is believed to have used Bangladeshis living illegally in Uttar Pradesh," said a news report quoting an unidentified Indian intelligence official.

The official said in both cases, pressure cookers with timer devices were used to store improvised explosive devices which were triggered in the evening, when people crowd market places and religious shrines.
wpherald.com