SUSPECTED MAOISTS KILL THREE CPM LEADERS

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000009 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC IN SUBJECT: SUSPECTED MAOISTS KILL THREE CPM LEADERS REF: 07 KOLKATA 386, 07 KOLKATA 325 ¶1. (U) During the first week of January 2008, suspected Maoists killed three Communist Party of India --Marxist (CPM) leaders in West Bengal. Two were killed in districts bordering the state of Jharkhand, a state with a significant Maoist presence. Local leaders believe that the attacks were aimed at disrupting the upcoming local body (Panchayat) elections scheduled for May. Maoist attacks prior to elections are a relatively common occurrence in W. Bengal, reflecting the Maoist opposition to the election process, as well as to demonstrate their strength and ideological hostility to the CPM. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Suspected Maoists in W. Bengal killed three CPM leaders in the first week of 2008. Ramaprasad Mondol, a member of the Daiyerbazar local committee, was gunned down in the Nadia district on January 2, while Palan Kumar Majhi in the Purulia district, and Sisir Chatterjee, a zonal committee member in the Burdwan district, were killed on January 1. Both the Purulia and Burdwan districts border the state of Jharkhand, which has a significant Maoist problem. W. Bengal's Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told Post that suspected Maoists from Jharkhand are behind the killings in Purulia and Burdwan but that in the Nadia district (located along the Bangladesh border) the violence was a result of infighting between two local political groups. ¶3. (U) Police found Maoist posters and leaflets in the area where the killings took place. Media reports suggested that CPM party workers, cadres and supporters are being targeted or terrorized in addition to the campaigning candidates. In protest against the killings, the CPM's local unit called a six-hour strike in the area close to the Jharkhand border, but the strike had very little economic impact with only some of the shops in the area closing down. ¶4. (U) Comment: The Maoists typically call for a boycott of elections, from Parliamentary to local body. Often, Maoists increase their violence prior to elections in W. Bengal in order to demonstrate their contempt for the electoral process, as a show of force in the face of CPM control, and to demonstrate the Maoist's ideological hostility to the CPM, which the Maoists believe has compromised its communist ideals in joining India's mainstream politics. JARDINE