Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KOLKATA127
2008-04-18 04:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Kolkata
Cable title:
MAOIST ATTACKS IN BIHAR AND JHARKHAND KILL SEVEN
how-toVZCZCXRO1292 PP RUEHBI RUEHCI DE RUEHCI #0127 1090459 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 180459Z APR 08 FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1970 INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1848 RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 0854 RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 0859 RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 0563 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2406
UNCLAS KOLKATA 000127
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: MAOIST ATTACKS IN BIHAR AND JHARKHAND KILL SEVEN
REF: A) 07 KOLKATA 109, B) KOLKATA 62, C) KOLKATA 104
UNCLAS KOLKATA 000127
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: MAOIST ATTACKS IN BIHAR AND JHARKHAND KILL SEVEN
REF: A) 07 KOLKATA 109, B) KOLKATA 62, C) KOLKATA 104
¶1. (U) On April 13 and 14 Maoists in India launched attacks in
the states of Bihar and Jharkhand leaving at least seven dead.
On April 13 Maoists attacked the busy Jhajha railway station,
located 150 km southeast of Bihar's state capital Patna, killing
six people including four railway security personnel. Bihar
police told Post that over one hundred (some newspapers put the
figure at two hundred) Maoists participated in the Jhajha
attack. The Maoists appeared to be targeting the railway police
armory located at Jhajha station, and media reports claimed that
the Maoists escaped with close to 40 guns and over 1,800 rounds
of ammunition.
¶2. (U) On Monday April 14, in the neighboring state of
Jharkhand police claim that five Maoists gunned down the brother
of a government contractor who refused to pay the extortion
money for the government contract he had obtained. The victim's
brother had been given a government contract to build a small
dam along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border.
¶3. (U) Comment: The latest violence in Bihar fits the pattern
of recent Maoist attacks, including one last year in the state
in the town of Riga (reftel A),of targeting infrastructure and
armory sites. The Indian Express newspaper carried an article
in its April 15 edition claiming that police in Chhattisgarh had
obtained a laptop during an anti-Maoist operation in January
that detailed Maoist plans to attack railway infrastructure,
highways, bridges, and dams in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and
Jharkhand, indicating that substantial operational planning has
been in the works for some time.
JARDINE