Islamic militants accused of temple and rail bombings

Indian investigators believe one of Kashmir’s most notorious Islamic militant groups planted bombs that killed 20 people at a temple and train station in Hinduism’s holiest city, police said today.

A senior police official also said a Kashmiri militant killed by officers in northern India hours after Tuesday’s bombings was suspected of masterminding the attack on a temple and train station in Varanasi, a city famed for its shrines on the banks of the holy Ganges River.

The dead man – identified only as Salim – ran the operations of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Kashmir’s best know militant group, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where Varanasi is located, said Yashpal Singh, the state’s top officer.

“Now we are trying to find out the places he has been and with who he was in contact,” Singh said.

A previously unknown Kashmiri group has taken credit for the bombings. But Singh said there were “strong indications” the attack was the work of Lashkar.