Mumbai plot remains mystery, PM wants perpetrators caught

A day after a terror strike rocked Mumbai, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the perpetrators must be 'pursued relentlessly' as investigators scrambled for clues on a rain-soaked Thursday and a weary metropolis picked up the pieces.

Eighteen people were killed and 131 others injured in synchronised blasts that rocked India's financial capital, striking the congested areas of Dadar, Zaveri Bazar and Opera House within minutes of each other on Wednesday evening - but a day after, there was no breakthrough on who was behind it.

'Terrorists surprised us'

Manmohan Singh, who visited the metropolis on Thursday evening with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, condemned the 'barbaric' bomb blasts, promising 'the government will do everything in its power to prevent such attacks in future'.

He said the government was coordinating 'efforts and resources to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators... (who) have sought to subvert'.

About the attack, the Prime Minister said 'the terrorists had the advantage of surprise' and that the 'administration in Maharashtra has risen remarkably well on this occasion'.

The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi also visited some of the injured in J.J. Hospital. They spent around 25 minutes at Saifee Hospital in central Mumbai where 37 of the 131 wounded are undergoing treatment.

They spoke with the patients, most of whom had suffered burn injuries, and wished them speedy recovery, besides inquiring about their condition from the doctors.

The investigation into Black Wednesday

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria vowed that they would 'ensure no matter wherever the accused are, we will identify them and bring them to book' as he appealed for faith and trust.

Officials refused to name any particular group suspected to be behind the blasts for which there has so far been no claim of responsibility. But they said they were looking at 'all angles' to identify the perpetrators.

But strong suspicion has fallen on the Indian Mujahideen, a shadowy home-grown militant group known for its city-to-city bombing campaigns using small explosive devices planted in restaurants, at bus stops and on busy streets.

Various agencies, including the National Security Guard (NSG), the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Mumbai Police, are involved in the probe.

As the investigators began searching for clues, the only thing that was sure was union Home Secretary R.K. Singh saying the ammonium nitrate-based IEDs were 'not crude' but indicated 'some level of sophistication'.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram confirmed the nature of the explosive saying: "Ammonium nitrate was used with a timer. The fact that they all took place within minutes of each other - eight-to-10 minutes - shows that it was a coordinated terror attack."

Sources said traces of ammonium nitrate, commonly used in fertilizers, and fuel had been found in the explosives.

A top doctor at one of the hospitals where the bodies of the dead were taken for a post-mortem examination said an electric circuit, that may have triggered the blast, was found on one of them, leading to speculation that it could have been a suicide bomber at work.