By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
30 September 2006

Indian police have accused Pakistan's military intelligence agency of planning the deadly train bombings that killed more than 180 people in Mumbai in July. Islamabad has denied the charge.

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		A fire officer stands near destroyed a train coach in Mumbai

Mumbai's police chief says the case has been cracked, and the investigation has revealed that the ISI planned the attacks, along with the Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. He says they were assisted by a banned Islamic group, called the Students' Islamic Movement of India.

The bombs exploded within 15 minutes on seven commuter trains at evening rush hour on July 11, in India's financial capital, killing more than 180 people and wounding nearly 800.  It was one of the worst terror attacks in India.

Roy said planning for the Mumbai attacks began in March. 

The police chief charged that the explosives used in the blasts had been brought in from Pakistan, and that operatives who carried out the bombings were also trained in that country.

He said the bombs were packed into pressure cookers and placed on the trains.

Pakistan denied the allegations. Pakistan's deputy information minister, Tariq Azim, demanded that India provide Islamabad with any evidence it has. 

		India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, right, and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf shake hands in Havana, Cuba (file photo)

However, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf recently decided to resume the peace process, and establish a joint mechanism to fight terrorism.  But several analysts say New Delhi's suspicions that Islamabad fuels terrorism in India will make it difficult for the two countries to work together to fight terror.

New Delhi has repeatedly charged that terror attacks in India have support from groups across the border.  Pakistan denies any involvement.