India links Kolkata attack to Sept. 11

NEW DELHI, India -- India's Central Bureau of Investigation has linked the attack on a U.S. government building in Kolkata to the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, saying the perpetrators had connections to hijacker Mohammed Atta.

Four gunmen on motorcycles opened fire Tuesday morning outside the American Center in the city, formerly known as Calcutta, killing at least four Indian police officers and wounding 21 other people.

Indian media reports on Wednesday quoted a Dubai-based alleged crime boss as telling West Bengal intelligence officers the attack was revenge for the killing of an associate.

The CIB have told the U.S. FBI that ransom money paid to the Dubai figure to release a businessman hostage was then sent to Atta to help him fund the World Trade Center attacks, the Hindustan Times reported.

Kolkata police, meanwhile, say a militant group called Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami have said they undertook the attack, Reuters reports.

Indian Home Minister L. K. Advani earlier on Tuesday said a group -- which he did not name -- with links to Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had claimed responsibility for the raid.

But Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told a news briefing in Islamabad that India's allegations were "totally baseless charges".

"As you know Pakistan has condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said.

There are two Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami militant groups basedi n Pakistan-administered Kashmir: the Jammu and Kashmir wing, which has denied involvement, and the International, which has not spoken.

Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami International fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and says 85 of its men died in the U.S.-led war on terror in that country.

The Kolkata attack comes less than six weeks after a deadly assault on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi.

That attack, which India blames on two Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups it says are backed by the ISI, has put the two South Asian nuclear rivals on a war footing -- together massing close to a million troops along their border.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947 -- two of them over the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

Manhunt

Following the Kolkata attack police have launched a massive manhunt for the gunmen who opened fire from under their shawls with automatic rifles as they rode their motorcycles to the center at about 6:30 a.m. (0100 GMT) Tuesday.

They shot at police officers on patrol outside the center and then sped away before security forces had a chance to react, Indian officials said.

No U.S. center staff were inside the building at the time of the raid and no Americans were injured, officials from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi told CNN.

Of the 21 people wounded, 10 were armed guards, 10 were bystanders, and one was a security staffer.

Pools of blood, upturned chairs and pieces of clothing lay scattered on the footpath outside the building and bullet holes scarred the security wall.

Police cordoned off the area after the attack -- believed to be the first against an official U.S. facility in India -- creating chaos in the heart of India's most densely populated city.

Security has been strengthened at U.S. installations and diplomatic enclaves across the country including the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

Counter-terrorism talks

The American Center is in a crowded downtown area of Kolkata and is one of two U.S. government buildings in the city. It houses a cultural affairs center, a press section and a library.

Indian police say they believe the attack was planned to coincide with a change of shift of the center's guards when the men are bunched together awaiting their replacements.

The raid comes as senior U.S. officials are in India for talks on counter terrorism.

The officials include FBI Director Robert Mueller and Francis X. Taylor, the Bush administration's coordinator for counter-terrorism.

India is seeking U.S. help to stop Pakistani-based Islamic militants fighting its rule in the Himalayan region of Kashmir from slipping across the border.

It was the first meeting of the group since the September 11th terror attacks in the United States.

American officials have offered U.S. assistance to Indian investigators.

'Threats'

Kolkata, in eastern India, is in the communist-run state of West Bengal state, and has been scene to frequent protests against U.S. interests.

While there have been demonstrations outside the center in the past, U.S. consulate spokesman Rex Moser told CNN he was not aware of any threats to the center.

But Joint Commissioner of Police Suresh Roy said intelligence reports have hinted at a possible strike against U.S. establishments in India in the run-up to the country's Republic Day celebrations this Saturday.

"Threats have been coming from various militant groups, quite frankly it is unprecedented," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Last June, four men were arrested on suspicion of planning to bomb the U.S. embassies in New Delhi and the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.