ANTI-TERRORIST detectives detained more than 350 people in arrests across Bombay yesterday, as police chiefs predicted that they would identify in the next 24 hours the bombers who killed nearly 200 people on the city’s commuter trains.

Detectives are showing some of the injured survivors photo-fit pictures of three men seen at Churchgate, Bombay’s main commuter station, each carrying brightly wrapped gift boxes. They were overheard discussing leaving their packages on board as they split up to take different trains during Tuesday’s rush hour.

All three men were then seen leaving their trains at Mumbai Central empty-handed.

The anti-terrorist unit last night released photographs of two key suspects, whom they named as Sayyad Zabiuddin and Zulfeqar Fayyaz, although they did not give the men’s nationalities or details of their alleged role in the attacks.

Senior officers revealed that they were also investigating overseas calls made from two of the stations within minutes of the explosions.

One police official told The Times that he believed the terrorists may have had local lookouts posted at Borivali and Jogeshwari stations, who reportedly made calls to Pakistan within a minute of the bombs exploding.

India’s political leaders risked antagonising Pakistan last night. D. K. Shankaran, a senior figure in the Maharashtra state government, blamed Pakistan for allowing Kashmiri militants to orchestrate the plot.

“There was substantial involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba with local support,” he said, pointing the finger at the banned Students Islamic Movement of India for providing the manpower to carry the explosives on to seven trains. The Indian Cabinet was briefed by the national security adviser yesterday about possible cross-border links.

Khurshid Kasuri, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, reacted to suggestions that his country could be to blame, saying that India should be careful about making such a public link. The arrests were seen by many in the city as an attempt by the anti-terrorist squad to deflect growing public criticism that they failed to act on a warning that Bombay’s commuter network was to be a target for Lashkar and Indian- based supporters. An alleged key figure in Lashkar, Mushir Siddiqui, is reported to have told interrogators that ten sleeper cells were in Bombay awaiting orders to strike.

He is also alleged to have confessed to sending a number of men from the city to Pakistan for training in handling explosives, who slipped back in to Bombay in June, according to the Mumbai Mirror.

Police said that Mr Siddiqui, 37, is among suspects they are continuing to question.

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