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Investigators lean away from linking attacksBy CNN Senior Investigative Producer Henry Schuster RELATEDSPECIAL REPORTQUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- British investigators are now leaning away from believing the attacks on July 7 and July 21 were linked, police officials said Thursday. "There is no hard evidence to see links (between the two groups)," said a police representative. "We have yet to come up with definitive links, although that clearly is forming part of our investigation." The police are still comparing forensic evidence from both bombings for similarities. That includes 12 homemade bombs and 4 detonators police recovered last month from a car rented by July 7 bomber Shehzad Tanweer and left at the Luton, England, train station, where the four suicide bombers boarded a train for London. Police also recovered explosive material from an apartment in Leeds where Tanweer and two other bombers lived and where they believe the bombs were made. Forensic officers continued their work at the sealed apartments of the alleged July 21 bombers this week. Police have said they recovered a total of five explosive devices related to the second attacks. Four were left behind by the suspected bombers on three trains and a bus after the detonators went off but the explosives failed to ignite. The fifth was found in a London park two days after the failed bombings. All five July 21 bombs were constructed inside 6.25 liter plastic food containers, according to Scotland Yard. On both days, the attackers carried their explosives in backpacks and set them off nearly simultaneously. While investigators never specifically linked the bombings, they previously emphasized the similarities in the aftermath of the July 21 attacks. "Yesterday's incidents do bear similarities to the bomb attacks in London on July 7 in as much as there were three underground trains and a bus that were targeted. There are other features that are emerging which are also of interest to detectives," Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said on July 22. Still, the police say it is possible links between the two groups could emerge in the future. "We can't say categorically that they aren't linked because the investigation isn't complete," a police representative said. A Scotland Yard report dated July 24 and reviewed by CNN revealed that the initial examination of the explosives recovered in Luton found they contained a white peroxide-based explosive. Four of those recovered devices were in plastic containers, but they were not the same type used July 21. In a meeting with private sector security directors on Wednesday, the New York Police Department revealed that July 7 bombers used bombs made with a peroxide-based explosive called HMTD, or hexamethylene triperoxide, which can be made with commonly available chemicals. NYPD detectives based in London collaborated on the investigation. The NYPD briefers told their audience that the July 7 bombers stored their explosive materials in a commercial refrigerator in Leeds and detonated their backpack bombs using cell phones. 
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