One of Mumbai's top police officers has said that gelatin sticks and not the explosive RDX was used in the twin blasts that rocked the commercial capital on August 25, while also not ruling out neighbouring Pakistan's role in the bombing incidents that killed 20 people.

Rakesh Mariah, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Mumbai Police told Gulf News that while initially, police had almost confirmed the presence of RDX, a highly explosive material, in the bombs that went off at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar now they had found new evidence that indicated otherwise.

"Gelatin sticks were used and not RDX. We have definite leads, " Mariah said . Gelatin sticks are locally available and have not come from Bangladesh or Nepal. Sources say police are looking at how the gelatin sticks from explosive dealers used for quarrying reached the hands of terrorists. Police had recovered 235 gelatin sticks from the house of Hanif in Andheri.

Mariah also said that Pakistan's hand in the recent twin bomb blasts on August 25 is definite.

"We are still in the process of investigating whether any of the four arrested suspects travelled to Pakistan but it is clear that Sayyed Mohammed Hanif, now in police custody, and a man named Nasir received their indoctrination abroad," Mariah said.

The indoctrination has been skillfully done on the quiet with the four suspects carrying out the acts of terrorism on the basis of their ideology and not for any monetary benefits, Mariah said, reiterating statements made the day before by other senior investigators. With investigations still at a premature stage, the police force is yet to establish if there are any foreign links in the bomb blasts, he said.

"Since our information is still in bits and pieces, we have not contacted the foreign governments concerned. We need concrete evidence before approaching any foreign government," he said. The foreign connection comes because the headquarters for the southern command of the Lashkar-e-Toiba is reportedly based abroad whilst Pakistan is the LeT base for northern India. Mariah did not want to confirm the names of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists as the groups that could have planned and executed the blasts.

However, it is now in the open that the banned SIMI has become quite active as shown by the arrest of SIMI leader Saquib Nachen and his involvement in the Mulund blasts of March 2003.

Police is looking into the number of modules that may exist presently and studying about the threat perception in Mumbai. Police teams from the city have been sent to Bangalore to verify whether Mohammed Fahim detained at the airport has any connections with the Mumbai blasts, he said. Hanif, his wife and 16-year-old daughter, and Arshat Ansari, the four blast accused did not expect the taxi driver, Shivnarayan Pandey, to move away from his vehicle.

"It is obvious that the Pandey's description of his passengers led the police to the culprits within a week's time," ,police souurces said.

"Hanif's wife had willfuly participated in the bombing of the Ghatkopar bus on July 28," he answered to a question whether women were coerced into such activities. Their only remorse is that the daughter has been sent to a home for children, he added.

Mumbai gets its own anti-terror squad

- A proposal by Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, also in charge of home, to set up an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) was recently passed by Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

- Following a series of blasts, the Maharashtra government will now set up an ATS at a cost of Rs3 billion with two groups to oversee Mumbai and the rest of the state.

- The 72-member squad will be headed by the joint commissioner of police, crime, two deputy inspectors general of police, two deputy commissioners of police, four assistant commissioners of police, eight inspectors, 16 sub-inspectors, 16 constables and 24 sepoys.