SOUTH INDIAN COPS CONFIDENT THEY CAN HANDLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHENNAI 000500

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2017
TAGS: IN PGOV PHUM PTER SOCI
SUBJECT: SOUTH INDIAN COPS CONFIDENT THEY CAN HANDLE
MAOISTS BUT WORRY ABOUT NORTHERN NEIGHBORS

REF: A) KOLKATA 0144 B) CHENNAI 0385 C) NEW DELHI
1297 D) CHENNAI 0083

Classified By: Consul General David Hopper for reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Aggressive police activity in the south
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has pushed the Maoists (also
known as the Communist Party of India - Maoist and/or
"Naxalites") into neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, both
of which historically have seen less Maoist activity.
However, police contacts in all three states express
confidence that they have the Maoists under control. Special
anti-Maoist police forces have been used to great effect,
they contend. Nonetheless, even the police officers
acknowledge that the long-term solution to the Maoist threat
is rural development. The leader of Andhra Pradesh's
celebrated "Greyhounds" says although he is comfortable with
south India's efforts to combat the Maoists, he is concerned
about the ability of neighboring states to the north, such
as Chhattisgarh and Orissa, to handle the threat. END
SUMMARY.


ANDHRA PRADESH,S SUCCESS PUSHES MAOISTS NEXT DOOR
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2. (C) Andhra Pradesh,s history of success (refs A and D)
has been an underscored by the recent killing and capture of
Maoist leaders. On June 27, Sande Rajamouli was killed in an
encounter with Andhra Pradesh police. Rajamouli, formerly
the Maoist leader in Karnataka, was the alleged mastermind of
the 2003 attempt to assassinate then Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister Chandrababu Naidu. A few days later, on July 1,
Papa Rao, the leader of the North Telangana Special Zone
Committee, was killed in another encounter with police. This
reportedly led to the surrender of four members of the nearby
Dandakaranya Special Zone Committee. K. Durga Prasad,
Additional Director General of Police, who oversees the
state,s elite anti-Maoist force, nicknamed &Greyhounds,8
told post that with the pressure increasing in Andhra
Pradesh, Maoist leaders are looking to operate from
neighboring states. &Cadres from Andhra Pradesh are now
providing leadership in other states,8 he said.


KARNATAKA AND TAMIL NADU SAY THEY CAN HANDLE MAOISTS
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3. (U) Neighboring Karnataka recently has seen a modest
increase Maoist violence. The increase started with the June
4 torture and killing by Maoists of a shopkeeper alleged to
be a police informer in Chikmangalur district (approximately
150 miles from India's information technology capital
Bangalore). On July 10, Karnataka police killed five suspect
Maoists, including one they claimed was a member of the
Karnataka State Committee.


4. (U) On July 25 Tamil Nadu police by chance came across a
Maoist training camp in Muruganmalai village in Madurai
district in the south of the state. Villagers worked with
police forces to comb the area, capturing three Maoist
cadres. The capture of the three Maoists ultimately led
police to the camp's leader, Mr. Mani (aka Sundaramurthy),in
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. Mani's wife and two of his associates
remain at large. Police contacts said the apprehended
Maoists spoke a dialect of Tamil found in far-off Dharmapuri
district, which raised the suspicions of the villagers in
Muruganmalai. (NOTE: Dharmapuri district was the scene of
Maoist violence in 2002. END NOTE.)


5. (C) Despite these instances of Maoist presence, the
police in both states are confident that they have the
Maoists in check. In Tamil Nadu, Nanjil Manoharan,
Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) told
post "we have nipped them in the bud." He said Maoist
activity in Tamil Nadu was limited to small-scale recruiting
and training. Manoharan took pride in pointing out that it
was intelligence provided by the local villagers that led to
the apprehension of the Maoists in Muruganmalai. He said
Tamil Nadu police actively work with rural youth, including
sports and job training programs. According to Manoharan,
these programs, coupled with the state's efforts to bring to
rural areas basic infrastructure -- roads and electricity --

have deprived the Maoists of local support in Tamil Nadu.


6. (C) Karnataka police are similarly confident. Shankar
Bidari, Additional Director General of Police, told post the
Maoists' organization in Karnataka is basically headless and
thus unable to conduct major operations in the state. He
said the police could "solve the problem" in a month if
political authorities gave them the go-ahead. Kishore
Chandra, Inspector General of Police (Intelligence),told
post that there are fewer than twenty-five armed Maoists in
the state. He said the leaders are usually from Andhra
Pradesh; the foot soldiers from Karnataka. Interestingly, he
said, a substantial number of the Maoists are women. The
leaders are armed with AK-47s, but the cadres carry only
crudely made "country" weapons that are frequently
non-functional. Despite their poor armament, the Maoists are
often able to escape confrontations with the police due to
the rough terrain and dense forest cover.

SPECIAL FORCES TARGET MAOISTS
--------------


7. (C) Prasad, who leads Andhra Pradesh's extremely
successful "Greyhounds" anti-Maoist unit, praised Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka for deploying their respective "Special Task
Forces." Prasad said the Task Forces, established in 1990 to
capture the notorious forest bandit Veerappan, have the
jungle warfare skills needed to track the Maoists who operate
in heavily forested areas. Prasad, as well as Manoharan of
Tamil Nadu, said that pressure from the Task Forces has made
it impossible for the Maoists to establish themselves
significantly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

COPS: DEVELOPMENT IS LONG-TERM SOLUTION;
START WITH ROADS
--------------


8. (C) The law enforcement officers uniformly agreed that
development initiatives are the most important tools in the
battle against the Maoists. The Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
officers said that their states' efforts to provide roads,
drinking water, schools, and hospitals have ensured that the
Maoists do not have local support. Prasad of Andhra Pradesh
told post that roads, in particular, are key because they end
the isolation of rural communities, allowing the government
access for both development programs and police operations.
Prasad contrasted Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh, where
Maoists have been eliminated after roads were put in, to
Vizakhapatinam district (along the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa
border) where a virtually non-existent road network allows
Maoists to continue operations (ref B). Karnataka's Bidari
agreed on the importance of roads, noting that he has put
together a road development plan as part of his overall
strategy to rid Chikmangalur district of Maoists.


GREYHOUND CHIEF: MAOISTS LOOKING LONG-TERM
--------------


9. (C) Prasad told post that he regularly consults with
intelligence officers from the neighboring states, as well as
those in the central government who follow the Maoists.
Prasad said India's Maoists have been buoyed by the success
of the Maoists across the border in Nepal. He said they have
a long-term vision; their goal is to attain power in India by

2060. Prasad believes their strategy is to cut off India's
villages and towns, particularly from the electrical grid.
He cited Maoist efforts to disrupt power distribution in both
Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh (ref B).


10. (C) Prasad said India's economic growth presents a
challenge for the Maoists. He added that Maoists are no
longer able to recruit students from south India, where jobs
are readily available. He noted that in poorer northern
states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the Maoists still
successfully recruit students as many are unable to find
employment. Maoist cadres in the south, he said, are drawn
from the dispossessed tribal communities.

CASTING A WARY EYE TO THE NORTH
--------------


11. (C) Prasad said one area of concern for him in the

southern states is the tribal communities' susceptibility to
recruitment by Maoists. He blamed government: "We talk a
lot but do nothing" on tribal development. But overall he
feels south India is in a "comfortable" position with regards
to the Maoists. He looks north to Chhattisgarh and Orissa
with concern, though (ref C). Despite his forces' work to
build the capacity of Orissa and Chhattisgarh police forces,
he feels they are insufficiently trained and equipped.
Worse, he says, is that the political leadership in
Chhattisgarh and Orissa lacks the will to take on the
Maoists. When asked if Andhra Pradesh's anti-Maoist strategy
pays particular attention to its northern border, Prasad
laughed and said "that's where we pay all of our attention."


COMMENT: IT,S THE ROADS, STUPID
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12. (C) COMMENT: The south Indian states are experiencing
notable success against the Maoists. The police, especially
their special forces, are quick to take the fight to the
Maoists. More encouragingly, the police themselves recognize
that development, rather than policing, is the long-term
solution to the Maoist problem. The first step in
development, in their view, is road-building. South India's
dynamic economies, of course, help by reducing the lure of
Maoist ideology. But while Prasad and his colleagues are
confident of their ability to handle the Maoists in south
India, Prasad seemed quite concerned about the Maoists'
ability to operate in Chhattisgarh and Orissa. END COMMENT.



13. This cable was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi and
Consulate General Kolkata.
HOPPER