Thursday, July 13 2006 13:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Mumbai train blasts seems to be part of a plan by militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba to target public transport system in the metros during peak hours to cause maximum casualty.

Delhi Police probe into the pre-Diwali blasts last year, which are also suspected to be masterminded by LeT, revealed that the public transport system here was considered a soft target for militant attacks, a fact reinforced by Tuesday's serial blasts on the first-class coaches of suburban trains in India's financial capital.

One of the four chargesheets filed by the Delhi Police Special Cell in connection with the Delhi blasts contains a briefing given by Tariq Ahmed Dar, currently lodged in Tihar Central Jail here, to his co-conspirator Abu Ozefa in Srinagar that bombs could be planted on crowded buses at peak hours in the capital.

Dar had come to Delhi in October last year to identify targets for the attacks meant to spread panic among the public.

After surveying possible targets, Dar had returned to Srinagar and reported to his module that market places at Sarojini Nagar, Paharganj and Karol Bagh areas would attract crowds on Diwali eve.

Police sources suspect the same pattern has been followed in Mumbai.