VZCZCXRO5921
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #2145/01 2611127
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181127Z SEP 06
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9859
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1950
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4845
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0587
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1255
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0526
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0969

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 002145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DS/IP/SCA AND DS/IP/TTA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINS PTER PHUM ASEC IN
SUBJECT: ANDHRA PRADESH POLICE SEIZE CACHE OF CRUDE ROCKETS 
 
REF: Chennai 1705 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Andhra Pradesh (AP) Police Chief confirmed to 
Post the seizure of hundreds of Chennai-made rocket shells and 
dozens of rocket launchers from the storehouses of a transport 
company in the Mahaboobnagar and Prakasam Districts of AP on 
September 8.  With no evidence of LTTE involvement in the 
manufacture and sale of the crude arms, the search is on for the key 
Maoist players in the inter-state transaction.  AP Maoists have 
allegedly test fired from the ground at least 56 rockets, which are 
said to have a 20 feet backfire and doubtful accuracy.  According to 
the Police Chief, 2005 was bloodier than any recent years due to a 
period of state government laxity in its anti-Maoist drive. End 
Summary 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
ROCKETS ARE CRUDE AND INACCURATE, SAYS DG OF POLICE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mr. Swaranjit Sen, Director General of Andhra Pradesh 
Police, confirmed to Post press reports of a September 8 arms haul 
by the state police.  South Indian media had widely reported the 
seizure of 875 empty shells of rockets, 28 rocket launchers, 35 
improvised landmines in plastic buckets, live .303 rounds and 
detonators from the storehouses of a transport company in the 
Mahaboobnagar and Prakasam districts of central AP.  Sen said the 
focus of investigation is on Maoists who, he added, had test-fired 
56 of the rockets in a forest area.  According to Sen, the rockets 
are crude with a doubtful accuracy, and they have a 20 foot 
backfire.  Sen also said that the state police are still trying to 
trace one of the three consignments sent from Chennai consisting of 
over 200 rockets and to apprehend the main perpetrator behind the 
inter-state transaction. 
 
------------------- 
LTTE HAND RULED OUT 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sen stated that investigation of the source of the rockets 
is over. It has been confirmed that they were manufactured and 
assembled in Tamil Nadu.  Chennai police had worked together with 
the AP police in checking out the fabrication units in Ambattur 
Industrial Estate near Chennai.  After holding discussions with the 
Director General of Tamil Nadu Police, Sen told Chennai journalists 
on September 13 that LTTE involvement in the manufacture and sale of 
these arms has been ruled out.  Two days later at another press 
meet, Tamil Nadu Director General of Police Mukherjee agreed, 
saying, "There is no LTTE link as of now."  Currently, the 
investigators are said to be on the lookout for a Maoist couple from 
Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh: Raghu alias Srinivasa Reddy and 
Sudharani, resident in Chennai since 2002, who allegedly played the 
key role in the weapons manufacturing and transport. Seven persons 
including the proprietors of the lathes and foundries at the 
manufacturing site have been arrested. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
KILLINGS INCREASED DUE TO STATE LAXITY IN THE INTERIM 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) DGP Sen also noted that conflict between the state police 
and the Maoists had been bloodier in Andhra Pradesh in 2005 than in 
previous years.  Maoists killed 186 civilians and 25 policemen in 
2005 while the police killed 82 Maoists. According to Sen, the 
increase in 2005 killings was due to government laxity, implying the 
failures during the last eight months of 2004 when the newly 
installed state government held peace talks with the Maoists. Those 
talks ended unsuccessfully and the police campaign against the 
Maoist was resumed.  Sen believes that the Maoists are focusing on 
areas north of AP, such as Chattisgarh and Jharkhand where, he said, 
the tribal population is a fertile ground for Maoist extremism. 
 
------------------------------ 
SEN UNRELENTING IN MAOIST HUNT 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: Criticized by opponents as trigger-happy and 
confrontationist, Sen is clearly unrelenting in the pursuit of 
Maoists.  This was evidenced in July 2006 when the state police shot 
dead the State Secretary of CPI(Maoist) Madhav and seven others 
after a week of combing operations involving over 700 policemen 
including the elite Greyhound police force.  (See reftel.)  The 
seizure of the rocket shells is a morale booster for the AP state 
police amid criticism that AP Maoists are now exporting terror to 
 
CHENNAI 00002145  002 OF 002 
 
 
other Indian states. 
HOPPER