An Indian minister claims Pakistan's "official agencies" were behind the last year's terror attacks on the port city of Mumbai. "Given the overwhelming evidence we have, I am entitled to presume that official agencies (of Pakistan) were involved," Home Affairs Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in an interview to be aired Sunday. He, however, did not elaborate on the evidence. The remarks are the latest in a barrage of Indian criticism aimed at the Islamabad government. Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have sunk to a new low after militants, allegedly belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group, attacked several areas across the Indian port city of Mumbai in November 2008. At least 179 people, including nine militants, were killed and hundreds of others were injured in the incident.
Indian officials have accused the Pakistani army and the powerful Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) of orchestrating the deadly attacks. Islamabad denies the charges.
The Indian police on Saturday pressured a court for death penalty for Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone surviving gunman captured in the Mumbai carnage. Qasab, a Pakistani national, was arrested by Indian commandos during the November 26-29 raids and faces a string of charges including murder and terror acts against India.