Police defuse another bomb in western India

Police defused another explosive device Wednesday in western India, bringing the total number of unexploded bombs found there in the last two days to 19.

The discovery of the bombs in the diamond-polishing center of Surat on Tuesday and Wednesday came after 22 explosions tore through the nearby city of Ahmadabad over the weekend, killing 42 people and wounding 183.

Seven small blasts also shook Bangalore in the south, killing one person. Authorities initially reported two deaths there but later said the second death was not related to the attack.

Surat Police Commissioner R.M.S. Brar said the 19th bomb was discovered Wednesday morning in one of the city's markets, and police were telling people to avoid gathering in public places.

The discovery left Surat a virtual ghost town, sending fearful residents back to their homes and shuttering what businesses had not already closed after 18 explosives were found a day earlier, Brar said.

An obscure Islamic militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen took credit for the attack Saturday in Ahmadabad, although authorities believe the claim may be an attempt by one of a handful of better-known groups to cover its tracks.

On Tuesday, authorities launched a massive manhunt in a suburb of Mumbai, India's financial capital, where investigators believe the bomb plots were hatched.

Authorities said four cars _ two used in Saturday's Ahmadabad attack and the two found in Surat _ were stolen earlier in July from a Mumbai suburb, Navi Mumbai.

Police said they believe the bombers used Navi Mumbai as the headquarters to plan the attack because they thought their activities would likely go undetected in the nondescript suburb.

India has been plagued by bombings in recent years. Almost all have been blamed on Islamic militants who allegedly want to provoke violence between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority, although officials rarely offer hard evidence implicating specific groups.

Authorities are also checking the computer of a 48-year-old American citizen living in Mumbai to find out if an e-mail claiming responsibility for the attack was sent from it, or if unknown attackers accessed his wireless Internet connection.

Police seized Kenneth Haywood's computer Monday after tracing an e-mail claiming responsibility for the attack to the machine. Police said Tuesday that Haywood was not a suspect and it appeared the bombers had accessed his wireless network connection to send the e-mail.