According to a quick assessment by the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency, the Mumbai bomb blasts carry the signature of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

According to a senior intelligence officer, "Nobody can deny that it's a fundamentalist act. And many groups are interlinked in this operation. The blasts prove that the ISI has not changed its policy of 'bleeding India'. Al Qaeda is unlikely to be involved in the Mumbai blasts. Their targets remain America and Israel."

• Complete Coverage of the Mumbai Blasts

The officer added that the ISI has been able to operate freely in India because of the administrative system, which is 'not entirely honest'.

Importantly, he said there was no specific information warning about Monday's blasts. Many general inputs were filed, and there was a pointer a few days ago when the Bombay high court gave a verdict dealing sternly with the violent activities of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India.

Asked about the intelligence failure to uncover in time the elaborate preparation that must have been done for the bombing, the officer argued, "These kind of bomb blasts cannot be stopped because terrorists are aiming at soft targets. Soft targets are difficult to protect. We have to live with it."

More reports from Maharashtra