Security tightened after Bombay attacks

Police have been put on alert following the blasts

India has stepped up security after two bomb attacks in the heart of its commercial capital which killed at least 50 people.

Police have been put on alert around airports, railway stations and religious buildings as investigations get under way into who was responsible for the deadly blasts in the city of Bombay.

Leaders from around the world have condemned the two attacks which were detonated almost simultaneously - one at the city's famous Gateway of India monument, the other near a temple.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosions, which caused around 150 casualties, but Indian officials and politicians have suggested a banned Islamic students group may have been involved, along with a Pakistan-backed Kashmiri militant group.

Such wanton targeting of civilians should be condemned in the strongest possible terms Masood Khan Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman

An Indian official has linked the bombings to continuing religious tensions in the state of Gujarat.

Chhagan Bhujpal, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra state, told NDTV television there was "no doubt" the attacks were linked although he provided no evidence for the claim.

About 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in riots last year in Gujarat, following an incident in which about 60 Hindu pilgrims were burned to death in a train set alight by Muslims.

Eight of the victims of the latest explosions came from Gujarat, and their bodies are due to be returned to the state.

'Tourists sought'

There have now been six bomb blasts in the city, also known as Mumbai, in as many months and the reaction is shock, says the BBC's Frances Harrison in the city.

STUDENTS ISLAMIC MOVEMENT OF INDIA (SIMI) Formed in Uttar Pradesh in 1977 Declared jihad (holy war) against India and aims to convert it to Islam Banned after 11 September attacks, its offices closed and assets seized Simi president Shahid Badar charged under Prevention of Terrorism Act. In jail awaiting trial Has 400 full-time cadres and 20,000 members under 30 Source: Institute for Conflict Management

Our correspondent said small groups of people have started coming to the bomb sites to pay homage to the dead.

Reports say the police are now searching for a family of tourists who are thought to have hired one of the taxis which exploded.

Pakistan moved quickly to condemn the blasts, attacking the "wanton targeting of civilians".

Correspondents say the Indian Government has blamed Pakistan-based groups for recent bomb attacks, but given efforts to improve relations between the two countries there has been no finger-pointing yet.

The Pakistan Government described Monday's bomb blasts as acts of terror.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, the parliamentary leader of an alliance of radical Islamic parties in Pakistan, said the attacks were a tragedy.

The extremists fear the rapprochement between India and Pakistan J Thakrar, USA Have your say

He said no religion allowed the killing of innocent people.

Bombay Police Commissioner R S Sharma said he believed that Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist militant group, was responsible for the two explosions.

He said it was still too early to say much but he believed the same group was involved in the blasts in the city in December 2002 and January and March this year.

"I personally feel the same Lashkar-e-Toiba group is involved in this," he said. "But it is very difficult to say at this stage. We have certain very vital clues, vital clues on which we are working."

'Despicable'

India's deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani said that the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), acting with the support of Lashkar-e-Toiba, was to blame for a string of other attacks in Bombay in recent months.

BOMBAY BLASTS July 2003: Three killed in bus blast Mar 2003: 11 killed in commuter train Jan 2003: 30 injured in market attack Dec 2002: 23 injured at McDonald's outlet Dec 2002: Two killed in bus blast Mar 1993: More than 250 killed in serial blasts In pictures: Double blast Eyewitness: City in chaos

"Earlier these blasts were in buses and in almost all cases the organisation involved has been Simi and acting in conjunction with Lashkar e-Toiba," he said.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is one of the two Pakistani rebel groups that Delhi blames for the December 2001 militant attack on its parliament which left 15 people dead, including five attackers.

The United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, described Monday's attacks as despicable.

The European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said there could be no justification for such acts, while the US State Department said the bombings were senseless and cowardly.

US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said: "The United States condemns the senseless and cowardly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. We hope that the perpetrators will be quickly identified and brought to justice."

The BBC's Frances Harrison said there was increased security in the city, forensics experts had been called in and police were on high alert in sensitive areas such as railways stations, religious places and public areas.

She said while many local papers had graphic headlines and horrific eyewitness accounts, the economic papers talk about how the attacks may rock business confidence.