TRAIN BLAST CAUSED BY RDX, GOI LOSING PATIENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 005874

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV IN
SUBJECT: TRAIN BLAST CAUSED BY RDX, GOI LOSING PATIENCE

REF: A. NEW DELHI 5862 NOTAL


B. NEW DELHI 5522

Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) A blast on a New Delhi-bound train killing at least
13 passengers on July 28 was caused by RDX, police sources
told us, noting that the same explosive was found in the
possession of the July 5 Ayodhya attackers (Ref B). Director
General AK Suri of the Railway Protection Force reported that
the bomb was placed under a berth in the passenger coach,
ripping apart the compartment as it traveled through Uttar
Pradesh. Suri, a long-time Embassy contact, underlined that
"it was definitely a terrorist act." The GOI has not
commented publicly on the cause of the blast, except for
early disingenuous speculation from the railway ministry,
facing accusations of lax security, that it could have been
an accidental gas cylinder explosion.

Comment: Is This the Last Straw?
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2. (C) With a long open border facing Nepal, Uttar Pradesh
is a free movement zone for Nepalese Maoists, indigenous
Naxalite groups, and Pakistani-backed jihadists who use
Kathmandu as a hub of operations. Any of these could have
been responsible for the July 28 attack. While the GOI has
so far been restrained in the face of an accelerating tempo
of terrorist activity and cross-border infiltration, the
government is growing increasingly frustrated with Pakistani
links to terrorist actions in India. GOI contacts tell us
that a major terrorist incident with Pakistani sponsorship
would put an end to Indo-Pak detente (Ref A). While
responsibility for this blast may never be known, the
India-Pakistan peace process is looking increasingly
vulnerable to these mounting attacks.
BLAKE