INDIA TURNS OVER EIGHT MAOISTS TO NEPAL

S E C R E T KATHMANDU 000735 SIPDIS LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2012 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ASEC PHUM PINR NP SUBJECT: INDIA TURNS OVER EIGHT MAOISTS TO NEPAL REF: KATHMANDU 731 Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5(b),(d) PM Confirms India Turned Over Maoists -------------- ¶1. (S) India turned over eight suspected Maoists to Nepal April 10, Prime Minister Deuba confirmed to Ambassador April 12 (Reftel). The PM claimed that the suspects - who he described as "low-level" - had been apprehended based on intelligence provided by the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA). RNA Chief of Army Staff Rana made the same claim April 11. Leaked, Planted or Both -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The turn-over was reported in the Indian media and international wire services. These reports state that the eight Maoists - including one woman - were picked up at clinics and nursing facilities in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh where they were being treated for combat-related injuries. Authorities were searching for accomplices believed to have brought the wounded to India for treatment, and were also attempting to track the source of the funds used for the medical care, press reports mentioned. Local media in Nepal have yet to run the story. Comment -------------- ¶3. (S) This is a good start to the promise of Nepal-India cooperation against the Maoist insurgency. As noted Reftel, it may have been the result of recent U.S., U.K. and Nepalese visits to New Delhi. That India apparently fed the details to the press to get the message out may bode well for future operations of this kind. MALINOWSKI