200 MAOIST INSURGENTS KILL SEVEN, INCLUDING FIVE POLICE, IN

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000196

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM KCRM ASEC IN
SUBJECT: 200 MAOIST INSURGENTS KILL SEVEN, INCLUDING FIVE POLICE, IN
BIHAR

REF: A) KOLKATA 0191 B) KOLKATA 0144 C) KOLKATA 0074


1. (SBU) Summary: On June 30 an estimated 200 Communist Party
of India - Maoist (Maoists) insurgents killed seven people,
including five policemen, in separate but simultaneous attacks
on two police stations in the Rohtas district of the eastern
Indian State of Bihar. On the same day, the Bihar police
recovered six hand grenades and two rifles after a reportedly
fierce encounter with Maoists near the Obera police station in
Aurangabad district. The day before, on June 29, gunfire
between Maoists and police in the town of Jamui resulted in a
civilian death. These latest attacks reflect a recent increase
in Maoist violence in eastern India as well as the Maoists'
strong logistical capacity to mount large, well-armed assaults
on security personnel. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Bihar police contacts told Post that the two attacks
on the Rohtas police stations were conducted by approximately
200 Maoists resulting in seven deaths and in the Maoists taking
weapons, including at least 10 rifles, and ammunition. Four
injured policemen were sent to a hospital in Varanasi in the
neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh for treatment. The Maoists
left several handbills at the scene claiming the attacks were
launched to protest "false cases" against alleged insurgents.




3. (SBU) The attacks also came soon after the Maoists' two-day
transportation blockade, June 26-28, to protest the GOI's
economic policies, including creation of Special Economic Zones
(SEZs) and alleged torture of Maoists in police custody. The
blockade resulted in disruptions to road and rail transportation
throughout the eastern states (Ref. A). The police source also
added that in another incident on June 30, the police recovered
six hand grenades and two rifles after a fierce encounter near
Obera police station in Bihar's Aurangabad district.


4. (SBU) Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters)
Anil Sinha told Post that, "We have recovered some looted
weapons from them (Maoists). No casualty is being reported in
the Aurangabad encounter. Also, in a separate incident in Jamui
(a town in central Bihar) the Maoists and the police on June 29
exchanged firing in which one civilian was killed." He added
that recently the number of Maoist-related incidents in the
state has increased.


5. (SBU) Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, while
visiting Kolkata, also confirmed to Congen that there had been a
recent spurt in Maoist violence in Bihar. He believed that the
rise in incidents resulted from the Maoists' effort to block the
development work being carried out by the Bihar government in
rural areas. Modi added, "They (Maoists) are of the view that
if we build roads in rural areas, then it will be easier for the
security forces to reach the rural area where they have their
hide-outs. Hence, apart from the police, they are now also
targeting the road construction contractors."


6. (SBU) Comment: In the past few months, Maoist violence
appears to be on the rise in Bihar and in India's other eastern
states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa. The large
coordinated attacks on the Rohtas police stations are a concern
as they demonstrate that the Maoists have the strong
organizational and logistical capacity to support combat
operations by groups of up to 200 insurgents.

JARDINE