U.S. citizen’s home raided by Indian police

Police raided the home of an American citizen in a suburb of Mumbai, India’s financial hub, and seized a computer from which an e-mail claiming responsibility for bombings that killed 45 people in western India was believed to have been sent, officials said.

The 48-year-old American has not been detained, said Kirit Sonawane, a police officer. The man is not a suspect, police said Monday.

At least 16 bombs tore through Ahmadabad on Saturday, killing the 45 people and wounding 161 others, said state Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas. It was the second series of blasts in India in two days.

An obscure Islamic militant group said it carried out the Ahmadabad attack.

“In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!” said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began.

The e-mail’s subject line said “Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat,” an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state that left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence.

Saturday’s e-mail was written in English and sent from a Yahoo account.

Late Sunday, police raided the U.S. citizen’s residence, believing the e-mail may have been sent from a computer there. Mumbai Police Chief Hassan Gafoor said police confiscated a computer and were analyzing the hard drive.

Mumbai police say it is likely that the e-mail was forwarded and may not have originated from the seized computer.

U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the U.S. had no information about the raid.

Gallegos offered condolences and called the bombings a “heinous act.”