Bombs spark off fears of new rail attack in India

Six home-made bombs have been discovered near a station in the Indian city where 187 people were killed last year by a series of train explosions.

The bombs, found in Mumbai last night, were not as sophisticated as those that wreaked havoc in July 2006.

They were spotted just hours before the victorious Indian cricket team arrived in Mumbai from South Africa and were taken in a procession to a stadium where they were feted for winning the Twenty20 tournament on Monday.

The city, India’s financial capital, is still recovering from last year’s train bombings.

Last month, an Indian court formally charged 13 men over the bombings.

Police say the men, with 15 others still at large, plotted and carried out the attacks.

The men are accused of being members of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan, and the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a banned group based in northern India.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is one of the largest of a dozen Islamic militant groups fighting to oust India from Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan.

All 13 men are Muslim Indians, while 10 of the 15 still at large are from Pakistan. Two others allegedly involved were killed.