WEB OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS IN MALAGAON BOMBING COVERS THREE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MUMBAI 000518

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF IN ASEC PTER PGOV
SUBJECT: WEB OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS IN MALAGAON BOMBING COVERS THREE
STATES AND IMPLICATES HINDU NATIONALIST GROUPS

REF: 08 Mumbai 120, 360, 364, 365, 405, 447


1. (SBU) Summary: The Maharashtra State Police Anti-Terrorism
Squad arrested five people and charged them with murder and
other related crimes in connection with the 2008 bombings in
Malegaon, Maharashtra that killed six and wounded 89 others. The
accused were picked up in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and in
Maharashtra. Those arrested were identified as having ties to
the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) youth wing in their earlier
years, and two had ties to a recent addition to the Sangh
Parivar family of Hindu nationalist organizations. The 2008
Malegaon blasts were distinguished from others attributed to
Islamic terrorist organizations by their lack of sophistication
and the use of military grade RDX explosives. This incident of
suspected Hindu terrorism is causing headaches for the
Hindu-nationalist, Bharatiya Janata Party in its election
campaign in Madhya Pradesh where combating terrorism is one of
its major campaign platforms. Overall, police are concerned
about rising Hindu extremism, the improvement in Hindu radicals'
bomb-making ability, and the connection of former military
officers to the Malegaon blasts. End Summary




2. (U) From October 24 to 28 Mumbai's Anti-Terrorist
Squad (ATS) arrested suspects in the September 2008 bombings in
Malegaon, Maharashtra and Modasa, Gujarat who have ties to
several Hindu extremist groups. Retired Army Major Ramesh
Upadhyay, from Pune, Maharashtra, and Sameer Kulkarni, from
Madhya Pradesh, were arrested October 28 in connection with the
recent Malegaon bombings that killed six and wounded 89 others.
They were charged with murder and attempted murder. Both are
members of Abhinav Bharat, a militant Hindu group which
advocates retaliatory terrorism against minority groups. The
group's website, which advocated abandoning the Hindu principle
of tolerance, "sahishnuwad" in favor of a proactive and
aggressive Hindu nationalism, shut down on October 26 after
Upadhyay and Kulkarni were detained for questioning. Kulkarni
was arrested in Madhya Pradesh, in a house formerly occupied by
sadhvi (ascetic) Pragya Singh Thakur, who was earlier arrested
in Surat, Gujarat, in relation to the same Malegaon bombings.
Thakur is said to have played a "key role" in the blasts;
reports detailing the investigation indicate that the ATS traced
the motorbike used in the Malagaon blasts to Thakur. Others
arrested last week in relation to the Malegaon bombings include
Shivnarain Kalsaangra, from Surat, Gujarat and Shyam Sahu, from
Indore, Madhya Pradesh.




3. (U) Those arrested, now in their late 30s and early
40s reportedly were members of the BJP youth wing Akhil
Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in their earlier years and
formed the organization Rashtriya Jagaran Manch in July of this
year after Hindu-Muslim riots in Madhya Pradesh. Milind Marathe,
national deputy president of ABVP denies any connection between
Thakur and his organization. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
another part of the Hindu nationalist family of organizations,
claims that it has no links with the accused. Thakur was also
rumored to be a former member of the Durga Vahini, the women's
wing of the VHP. A court in Nashik authorized brain-mapping,
narco-analysis and polygraph testing on Thakur.



Comparison to the other recent blasts attributed to Muslim
radicals

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4. (SBU) According to media reports, the improvised explosive
devices used in the Malegaon and Modasa blasts this year were of
a crude design, signaling investigators that this was not the
work of Islamic extremist groups like the Student Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) or the more recent Indian Muhajadeen.
Investigators believe that bombs tied to those groups have been
technically sophisticated. Bomb blasts in Ahmadabad in July and
Delhi in September and bomb material seized in Surat all used
multiple improvised explosive devices of the same basic design.
(Ammonium Nitrate was the primary explosive in the Ahmadabad,
Surat, and Delhi devices.) Both the Malegoan and Modasa
bombings were single IED attacks versus the hallmark multiple
IED attacks launched this past summer. The device used in the
2008 Malegaon bombing utilized military grade RDX which may have
been stolen from the Indian Army. The main charge for the IED
used in the Modasa blast consisted of gunpowder, suggesting that

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bombs used in the Malegaon and Modasa attacks did not have a
common bomb maker or designer. The use of military grade
explosives in the Malegaon blasts clued investigators to look
for existing military ties to the recent bombings.




6. (U) The arrest of Hindu extremists comes as a relief
to some local Muslims who have felt that the police often arrest
Muslim youth without cause in bombing cases. Abu Asim Azimi,
chief of the Maharashtra Samajwadi Party office said that
"Whenever bomb blasts take place, Muslims and particularly
youths are picked up~many innocents are booked for no fault of
theirs. Police have ruined the lives of well-educated Muslim
youth." An editorial in the right-of-center Urdu daily Inquilab
in Mumbai called for a "high level enquiry committee to
investigate into all bomb blasts throughout the length and
breadth of India." Editorials in Marathi press Sakaal and Lokmat
decried the alleged involvement of Hindu organizations as
"shocking", saying "this is certainly bad news. It indicates the
level of insecurity in a society scarred by terrorism.
Terrorist outfits, Hindu or Muslim, are doing no good to anyone."



Hindu extremists' bomb-making improves

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7. (SBU) This is not the first incident in which Hindu
extremists are accused of making bombs. In June of this year,
extremists bombed a theater in Thane, outside of Mumbai, for
featuring a play unflattering to Hindus. Little damage was done
in that blast and Bal Thackeray, the fiery leader of the Shiv
Sena party called on Hindus "to make better bombs" if they were
to battle Muslims. (See reftel) In August, two former workers
of the Hindu chauvinist group Bajrang Dal died in Kaunpur, Uttar
Pradesh, allegedly when they were experimenting with explosives.
The explosive devices used in the 2008 Malegaon blast were more
sophisticated than those used in the blast in Thane, early this
year, according to RSO sources.



Impact of involvement of ex-military

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8. (SBU) The use of military grade RDX in the recent
Malegaon bombings led ATS investigators to question military
ties to the attacks. Media reports indicate that ATS is
investigating links between the suspects and Bhonsala Military
School which the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal had used for
a training camp earlier this year to instill military culture in
their members. Retired major Upadhyay purportedly taught at the
school. Retired Major Prabhakar Kulkarni, commandant of the
school, and former Major Y. D. Sahasrabuddhe, a teacher at the
school, were also questioned in connection with the bombings,
but only Major Upadhyay was charged. The police are also
questioning an active army officer, Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit,
with the cooperation of the Indian Army. Police claim to have
evidence of phone conversations between Purohit and Upadhyay and
Thakur.




9. (SBU) Comment: The prospect of various right-wing
Hindu groups being identified with terrorism is giving the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
indigestion, as the party's theme in the state assembly
elections next month of fighting terrorism may come back to bite
its supporters. To keep a consistent mantra, the BJP has come
out to condemn all acts of terrorism. Uma Bharati, former Chief
Minister under the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and now one of its
rivals, lambasted the BJP for "disowning" the sadhvi, Thakur, as
BJP tried to distance itself from the violence. Bharati has
offered Thakur a seat to run against the BJP in the Madhya
Pradesh elections in November. After Bharati's criticism, the
BJP later came out in favor of the sadhvi, arguing that she is
innocent of the charges. While in the past, communal violence
has resulted in the favoring of the BJP at the polls, having
terrorists affiliated with the BJP's allies in the Sangh Parivar
family of Hindu groups, may backfire with the general
electorate.

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10. (SBU) The rising sophistication of Hindu-made bombs,
and the military's lack of control over its explosives are
causing concern among police. Director General of Police for
Maharashtra, A.N. Roy recently told CG Folmsbee that he is
concerned about the increasing level of violence carried out by
Hindu extremists. End Comment.
FOLMSBEE