MUMBAI ON HIGH ALERT AS AHMEDABAD RETURNS TO NORMAL AFTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000364

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC PGOV ECON PK IN
SUBJECT: MUMBAI ON HIGH ALERT AS AHMEDABAD RETURNS TO NORMAL AFTER
WEEKEND BLASTS

REF: A. A. MUMBAI 360

B. B. MUMBAI 339

MUMBAI 00000364 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: Following serial blasts in two major cities
on July 25 (Bangalore) and July 26 (Ahmedabad),India's
commercial capital Mumbai will continue to remain on high alert
until at least Indian Independence Day on August 15. In the
meantime, life is returning to normal in Ahmedabad and the
threat of communal violence is low. Quick deployment of the
army by the Central Government, as well as responsible
statements by the Gujarat state BJP leadership, have gone a long
way to minimizing Hindu-Muslim tensions in Gujarat, according to
our interlocutors.


2. (SBU) Summary continued. Contrary to media reports, the
threatening email by a terrorist group does not mention economic
targets such as the Bombay Stock Exchange. However, the email
does threaten the head of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani for
alleged misappropriation of Muslim community trust lands to
build his new residence, located near Consulate residences. End
Summary.

MUMBAI ON HIGH ALERT
--------------


3. (SBU) On July 27, both the Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan
Gafoor and Vilasrao Deshmukh, Congress Party Chief Minister of
Maharashtra used the media to assure people that Mumbai police
are taking adequate precautions in view of the serial blasts in
Bangalore (July 25),and Ahmedabad (July 26). Police carried
out surprise traffic checks as well asincreased their presence
at train stations and important land marks. The Times of India
received a hoax bomb call on Sunday afternoon, which prompted a
thorough check of the building by the bomb squad.

AHMEDABAD BLAST TOLL RISES
--------------


4. (SBU) By the evening of July 27, the death toll from the
July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad had increased to 49 dead and
161 injured. (See ref A) Government News Agency Press Trust of
India (PTI) reported that an alleged SIMI operative Abdul Halim
was detained in Ahmedabad on Sunday, in connection with the
blasts, though our Pol-Econ contacts could not confirm the news.
On Sunday, July 27, two vans laden with explosives were found
in Surat, a commercial city 185 miles to the South of Ahmedabad.
(Planting bombs on vehicles and parking them in crowded places
has been a method used in a number of serial blasts in 2006,
2007, and 2008.)

INTERLOCUTORS SAY HINDU-MUSLIM TENSION UNLIKELY IN
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AHMEDABAD
--------------


5. (SBU) According to BJP and Congress contacts polled Monday
morning, life in Ahmedabad is returning to normal. There is
little likelihood of communal tension at least in the near
future. On Saturday, the evening of the blasts, the state's
ruling BJP immediately pressed into service ground level
activists to organize massive blood donation drives in the three
hospitals where the injured were being brought in. The Congress
Party organized the supply of life-saving medicines by
mobilizing contacts in the pharmaceutical industry.


6. (SBU) According to reliable print media reports, by midnight
Saturday, the Government of Gujarat had requisitioned central
forces, and on Sunday morning, two Army columns were staging a
flag march in the affected areas of Ahmedabad. Both BJP chief
minister Narendra Modi and Health and Welfare Minister Minister
Jay Narayan Vyas appealed for calm and restraint. They also
said that the attack was "against humanity" and "against the
entire nation", giving a united rather than a communally
divisive message. A respected ex-BJP, now Congress member
leader told Congenoff, "I see no danger of communal riots right
now. This time, the public opinion is not getting divided on
communal lines; every one is viewing it as a threat to the
nation by people jealous of India's progress (a thinly veiled
reference to Pakistan)."

INDIAN MUJAHEEDIN E-MAIL
--------------


7. (SBU) A group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed

MUMBAI 00000364 002.2 OF 002


responsibility for the attacks and challenged officials to stop
the bombs in an email minutes before the first explosion in
Ahmedabad. The email was sent from a IP address in Navi Mumbai,
a suburb of Mumbai, where an American citizen was living. The
citizen is still being questioned by the police about how his
e-mail address could have been used for sending the e-mail and
the hard drive of his computer has been confiscated. He is
being allowed access to the American Citizen Services. He is
not a suspect in the blasts and is not under detention or arrest
(See ref A).


8. (SBU) The group laid out demands including release of SIMI
activists held on terrorism-related charges in Indore, Ujjain,
Mumbai and cities in Karnataka. The e-mail stated further that
if the activists were not released, there could be a repeat of
the Mumbai train bombings of July 2006. The email also warned
the Times of India media group to stop engaging in a perceived
anti-Muslim bias in its reporting.

9 (SBU) The email spoke of avenging the "Indore riots" that
took place recently after the Jammu and Kashmir government's
decision to rescind allocation of land to Hindu pilgrims (See
ref B). There was also a warning to Maharashtra's chief
minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and state home minister R. R. Patil
claiming the Maharashtra government is not doing enough to stop
discrimination and violence against the Muslim community.


10. (SBU) Finally, the e-mail held out veiled threats to
India's richest businessman Mukesh Ambani. "We also alert
Mukesh Ambani to think twice before usurping and building a
citadel on a land in Mumbai that belongs to the Waqf Board, lest
it turns into horrifying memories for you which you will never
forget." (Note: A Reliance Group company called Antilia
Commercial purchased a 4,500 sq meter plot on which Mukesh
Ambani's lavish residence is to be built, from a Muslim sect-run
Orphanage. However, some opponents appealed in court saying
that the orphanage did not have the authority to sell the land.
The Maharashtra State Waqf Board (a special government body that
administers Muslim charities) tried to change the land allotment
to Ambani. Opponents also allege that the land was sold to the
Reliance company at one-twentieth the market price, which raised
protests from the Muslim community. In May 2008 the Indian
Supreme Court refused to interfere with an interim order of
Bombay High Court for a stay on the decision to cancel sale of
the land. The land is very close to some U.S. Consulate Mumbai
residences. End Note.)

COMMENT:
--------------


11. (SBU) Media and police think that the Indian Mujahedeen is
just a new name for the banned Students Islamic Movement of
India. That thinking seems to be warranted going by the tone of
the e-mail and its contents. The reassuring factor is the
responsible position by Gujarat BJP leadership to avoid communal
conflagration in Gujarat. Mumbai, and Maharashtra, on the other
hand, would remain on alert, especially because the 10 day long
Hindu festival of Lord Ganesha is just round the corner (begins
August 3),and traditionally minor Hindu-Muslim skirmishes
always break out during the Hindu processions during these ten
days.
FOLMSBEE