C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000030

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA, DS/DSS/ITA, AND S/CT/ALLAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2018
TAGS: PTER AESC PGOV CASC PREL KISL KCRM IN
SUBJECT: TERRORISTS RAID INDIAN POLICE COMPOUND IN UP

REF: NEW DELHI 5158

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Classified By: A/DCM Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B and D)


1. (C) Summary: Four terrorists, dressed as paramilitary
officers, attacked a federal police compound in Uttar Pradesh
(UP) during the early hours of January 1st and killed eight
people. The attack displayed the hallmarks of a few
different terrorist groups active in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K),
though no group has claimed responsibility. Police are
following leads, including the possibility of an inside job.
The bold and deeply troubling attack, shortly on the heels of
the serial bombings of three UP courthouses, points to an
aggressive and confident terrorist infrastructure in UP
within 100 miles of Delhi. End Summary

A Bold Attack
--------------


2. (U) Four terrorists stormed a Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) compound in Rampur, UP, at approximately 3am on
January 1st and killed seven CRPF personnel and one civilian.
According to reports the attack was well planned and all
four terrorists, dressed in CRPF uniforms, escaped. No group
has claimed responsibility.

The Usual Suspects Possibly with Inside Help
--------------


3. (U) Police suspect Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
Jaish-e-Mohammad (Jem) or Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI).
According to news reports police have questioned numerous
suspects but no one has been detained. The Indian Express
reports that the Anti-Terrorist Squad has questioned two CRFP
members from J&K, and quote unnamed "top CRFP officials" as
stating the "internal sabotage" angle is under investigation.
Deputy Police Inspector General Rajeev Krishna told The
Indian Express, "We are investigating the case from all
possible angles, including that of a mole's presence." But
CRPF Director General S.I.S. Ahmed dismissed the involvement
of CRPF personnel as "absurd."

A Disturbing Trend in UP
--------------


4. (U) The attack follows the November 23rd serial bombings
of courthouses in the UP cities Varanasi, Lucknow and
Faizabad in which 13 people died. Shortly before those
blasts, media outlets in UP received a warning email from a
group calling itself "Indian mujahideen." The email stated,
"Our next target will be Indian police." (Reftel)


5. (U) UP Chief Minister Mayawati quickly blamed the CRPF
for "carelessness," and said the CRPF had been warned by
local authorities. "When there was a terrorist threat, the
paramilitary force should have been careful," she maintained.
Not missing a beat, BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
demanded a terrorism "white paper" from the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Touring the attack
site with BJP president Rajnath Singh, Naqvi declared, "The
UPA government should give a detailed explanation of how
terrorism has spread all over the country in its three and a
half years of their rule."

Terrorists Operating with Impunity in UP
--------------


6. (C) Comment: Regardless of which group or groups is
responsible, an attack of this nature on a federal police
force base only 150km from Delhi is very troubling. The J&K
style tactics suggest terrorists have decided to pursue
targets outside J&K. The ability of the terrorists to gain
relatively easy entry into the compound and then slip away
into the night indicates a full fledged operational terrorist
cell in UP with local support. Since the November serial
blasts, UP police have reportedly detained youths associated
with HuJI as responsible. If this is true, and HuJI is also
responsible for the Rampur attack, the group was clearly
unhindered by the blasts investigation. This indicates a wide

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operational network for HuJI in UP, with deeply worrying
security implications for cities throughout UP and, of
course, Delhi itself. Delhi remains a more hardened target
than UP, but an attack here can't be far away. End Comment
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