A senior Indian official said today that there was no evidence yet of British Pakistanis being among the dozen militants who attacked multiple targets in Bombay this week, leaving at least 195 people dead.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, of which Bombay is the capital, was quoted yesterday as saying there were two "British-born Pakistanis" among the militants.

Today, however, he told a news conference: "There is no such authentic information, we totally deny this."

He was speaking after Indian commandos killed the last three militants holed up in the Taj Mahal hotel early this morning, finally bringing an end to a 62-hour siege in the heart of India's financial capital.

Yesterday, Indian commandos had hunted down and killed the last two militants in the Oberoi hotel, and two more in Nariman House, a residential building housing a Jewish centre.

Mr Deshmukh also denied reports that British passports had been found on the bodies of any of the militants.

British officials told The Times that they had discussed the issue with Indian officials from the national and Maharashtra state governments, as well as with the Bombay police.

"As yet, we've not been given any evidence to corroborate the rumour that these terrorists were British," said a spokesman for the British High Commission in Delhi.

The Metropolitan Police had sent a specialist negotiator and a forensics expert to Bombay as part of a rapid deployment team that also included Foreign Office officials and Red Cross workers, he said.

"This was not at the request of the Indian government and is a routine response to serious consular incidents," he said.

Scotland Yard had not sent additional personnel to help with the investigation, he said.

British officials are now waiting to help identify bodies thought to be still inside the Taj and the Oberoi. So far, one Briton has been confirmed dead and seven more are being treated for their injuries in Bombay hospitals.

Hasan Gafoor, Bombay's police chief, told The Times that there were ten militants in all, of whom nine were killed and one was arrested.

"Regarding the nationality of the terrorists, we still can't say anything about either their strength or their nationality. We have no information on it yet," he said.

Other officials said that 11 militants had been killed and one arrested.

India media identified the arrested gunman as Azam Amir Kasav, 21, from the town of Faridkot in the the Pakistani province of Punjab.

They said that he spoke fluent English and had confessed to having planned to blow up the Taj hotel.

A previously unheard of group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but India has blamed "elements" in Pakistan, its neighbor and long-time rival.

Pakistan denies playing any role in the attacks and has offered to help with the investigation, but this morning it retracted an offer to send the head of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency to India.

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