POLICE KILL SUSPECTED MAOISTS IN KARNATAKA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000385 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC PINS PHUM IN SUBJECT: POLICE KILL SUSPECTED MAOISTS IN KARNATAKA REF: 07 CHENNAI 500 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: State police ambushed a group of four suspected Maoist insurgents (also known as Naxalites) before dawn on November 19, killing three, according to press reports. The fourth, reported to be a woman, escaped the ambush, which took place in southwestern Karnataka. Press reports also state that the police recovered a grenade and a revolver. Police officials tell us, however, that they also recovered a submachine gun with three loaded magazines, an unusually advanced piece of weaponry for the region's Naxalites, who have hitherto relied mainly on primitive, often homemade, firearms. Police have grown concerned recently that the local insurgents have been working to increase their strength. End Summary. Police launch pre-dawn assault -------------- ¶2. (U) Members of a specialist Anti-Naxalite Force (ANF) of the Karnataka police on November 19 killed three suspected Maoists at Mavinahola village in Chikmagalur district, 300 km west of Bangalore, in a pre-dawn assault, according to press reports. One police officer was also killed in the firefight. A fourth Maoist, whom police believe to be a woman, escaped, according to the same reports. The press identified all four suspects as Karnatakans, including G. Manohar, a 29-year-old former journalist with the Kannada-language daily "Echharike," who had left the newspaper more than a year ago. Manohar had spent nearly four years in jail for involvement in Naxalite activities before being released in 2004. ¶3. (SBU) A senior Karnataka police official told us that the ANF was able to set the ambush following intelligence it had received on the Maoists' presence in the area. He said that local tribal leaders had reported the disappearance of more than a dozen youths recently and suspected that local Naxalites were training and indoctrinating the youth in camps in local forests. The police official said that he suspected Manohar was personally involved in training these local youth and that he fears that local Maoists may respond to these killings with retaliatory attacks. An unusual arms cache -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The police official also told us that the arms cache recovered from the scene was unusual. He said that the discovery of a Sten gun (a WWII-era British 9mm submachine gun) with three fully loaded magazines (each capable of holding 32 rounds, according to the "Sten gun" entry in Wikipedia) should provide vital clues on the insurgent's weapons supply chain. He told us that Karnataka-based Maoists generally depended on their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for sophisticated weaponry. He noted, however, that it was possible that the local Maoists purchased the weapon from defense personnel, since the Sten gun remains in the arsenal of the Indian military. ¶5. (SBU) He added that the revolver discovered at the scene was crude and "locally made," as were the four hand grenades (not just one, as reported in the press). He said that their reliability was "suspect" and that their main use was probably only to intimidate the local population. Fertile ground for Maoist rabble-rousing -------------- ¶6. (U) The area where the ambush occurred is home to the government-run Kudremukh Iron Ore company, an iron ore mine established in the early 1970s that displaced much of the local Adivasi (tribal) community. Only a fraction of that community has received adequate compensation for this displacement, according to a fact-finding commission appointed by the Bangalore High Court. This shabby treatment has generated significant resentment against local government authorities that Maoists exploit skillfully to garner local support. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Karnataka's Maoists have a far lower profile than their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, but they occasionally carry out violent attacks (reftel). Police officials in the state have told us in earlier conversations that the insurgents' small numbers and lack of firepower prevent them from becoming as dangerous as Maoists in other states. The discovery of a submachine gun in the insurgents' hands may give the police interesting leads to investigate, but it may also give them reason to question some of their assumptions about the Maoists' abilities. CHENNAI 00000385 002 OF 002 We will continue to follow this incident and its aftermath and will report accordingly. End Comment. SIMKIN