MAOIST LEADERS KILLED IN ANDHRA PRADESH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 001705 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINS PTER PHUM ASEC IN SUBJECT: MAOIST LEADERS KILLED IN ANDHRA PRADESH REF: A) Mumbai 1317 B) 05 Chennai 2761 ¶1. (U) Summary: In a recent series of incidents in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in south India, police forces have killed numerous Maoist insurgents, including several leaders. Although the number of Maoist fighters in AP has fallen due to police action and moves into neighboring states, there is no end in sight for the insurgency. End summary. Two Maoist Leaders Killed in July 23 Clash - -------------- ¶2. (U) Police contacts in Andhra Pradesh have confirmed to us press reports of several recent clashes with Maoist (AKA Naxalite) insurgents in various parts of the state. In the most recent and one of the largest incidents, on July 23, eight Maoists including four women were killed in a shoot- out with police in the dense Nallamala forest in central Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district. Among the killed was Madhav, AP state secretary of the Communist Party of India - Maoist (CPI(Maoist)). Madhav had replaced previous CPI(Maoist) leader Ramakrishna, who had led the group's delegation to the 2004 peace talks with the AP government. Also killed in the clash was Jeevan, Maoist committee secretary in Guntur district, also in central AP. Jeevan SIPDIS carried a Rs. 500,000 (US$ 11,111) reward on his head. ¶2. (U) According to senior police official and Chief of the Grey Hounds, Mr. Durga Prasad, the operation that led to the July 23 shoot-out was based on a tip-off that a Maoist meeting was scheduled to be held in the forest. The police's elite Grey Hounds unit, which is devoted to anti- Maoist operations, had been combing the area for three days when the gun battle broke out on July 23. Madhav, alias Burra Chinnanna Goud alias Srisailam, aged 48, had joined the Maoist movement about 25 years ago and was elevated to the position of CPI(Maoist) state secretary in 2005. Madhav was wanted in several cases of violence, including the October 2003 assassination bid on former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Other Recent Anti-Maoist Actions -------------- ¶3. (U) According to Grey Hounds chief Prasad, the July 23 shoot-out was one of series of such incidents in AP during recent months. In a separate major encounter on June 27, a group of eight Maoists, including the commander of the Nallamala dalam (group),his deputy and six others were killed by police in central AP's Mahaboobnagar district. On June 21, police killed two Maoists, including district committee secretary Jagadeesh, in an encounter in Khammam, to the south of neighboring Chhattisgarh state. On June 19, two Maoists were gunned down on the AP-Chhattisgarh border. In April, four Maoists were killed in an encounter after they attacked two motorized launches in Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district. Following the July 17 Maoist attack on an IDP camp at Erraboru village in Chhattisgarh (see ref a),AP Grey Hounds personnel crossed into Chhattisgarh to assist local police there in tracking down the attackers. Maoists Down, But Far From Out -------------- ¶4. (U) The AP police actions have taken their toll. AP police told us, for example, that over the past six months the number of armed Maoist cadres in the central and southern parts of the state has been reduced from 130 to 70. Since January 2006 throughout AP, 183 Maoists have surrendered while another 82 have been killed, according to the police. Killings committed by Maoist have dropped in turn. During the first six months of 2006, Maoists killed 26 people, including seven police, in AP as compared to 211 killings, of whom 25 were police, in all of 2005. Nonetheless, police believe that overall Maoist strength in AP is down only slightly from the estimate of 1,000 armed fighters they gave to us in late 2005 (ref b). Indeed, after the recent incidents the AP government stepped up security throughout the state. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: AP Chief Minister YSR Reddy denied that the July 23 incident was a fake "encounter killing." After the clash, AP Home Minister Jana Reddy appealed to the Maoists to join the mainstream and offered to hold talks if they would lay down their weapons. Given the fact that police encounter killings of Maoists continue, it is unlikely that the Maoists will take seriously the call for peace talks. There may not be any immediate Maoist CHENNAI 00001705 002 OF 002 retaliation due to the increased security in the state, but our contacts advised us to expect more encounters and exchanges of fire. HOPPER