India’s National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) that the terrorists involved in the on-going terror attack on Mumbai were members of Lashkar-e-Toyeba and originated in neighbouring Pakistan.

Although prima-facie leads were pointing to an external hand, a national daily, quoting a source present at the CCPA meeting, said that this did not imply complicity of the Pakistani establishment yet as Pakistan itself has been under terrorist attack for some time. On September 20 this year, the terrorists attacked the famous Marriot hotel in Islamabad, killing at least 40 people and wounded another 200 in which several foreigners were killed.

Defence Minister AK Antony however said that the Navy and officials of the Coast Guard have been put into operation to probe the possibility of a mother ship having dropped the terrorists close to Mumbai harbour.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba was formed in 1990 but was included in the terrorist list by the US government much later. After being banned by the Musharraf government in 2002, the outfit changed its name to “Jamaat-ud-Dawa”.