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PP RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH
DE RUEHCG #2467/01 3040457
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 310457Z OCT 06
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0305
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2049
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1045
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1266
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0973
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4887
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0626
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0027

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 002467 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR ASEC CASC IN
SUBJECT: TWO SUSPECTED TERRORISTS ARRESTED IN MYSORE 
 
REF: CHENNAI 802 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: City police in Mysore, west of Bangalore in the 
south Indian state of Karnataka, announced the arrest of two Islamic 
terrorists on October 27.  According to the Mysore city police 
commissioner, the two arrested suspects are Pakistani nationals and 
members of Al Badr, a Pakistan based terror group that conducts 
operations on the Indian side of the Line of Control.  One of the 
arrested had entered India illegally, while the other with ethnic 
ties to neighboring Kerala, had overstayed his visa.  A Russian AK 
47 automatic and a pistol manufactured in Afghanistan were 
recovered.  In addition, a Thuraya (UAE) satellite phone, a laptop, 
cell phones and compact disks were seized.  The laptop and compact 
disks purportedly contained phone lists and building plans of Vidhan 
Soudha, which houses the Karnataka state legislature and state 
government Secretariat.  Other reports indicated that the Mysore 
campus of IT giant Infosys also may have been a target.  The 
suspects attempted to create false Indian identities by attempting 
to acquire Indian passports.  Karnataka police speculate the two 
were an advance team sent to establish themselves locally and 
provide intelligence and logistical support for south India 
operations of Al Badr and for organizations associated with Al 
Qaeda.  These arrests provide additional evidence that west Punjab 
and Kashmiri terrorist groups have expanded their focus to include 
political and economic targets in the Indian heartland, including 
the prosperous south.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mysore city police announced the arrest of two suspected 
terrorists on October 27. The two militants were identified as 
Fahaad, aged twenty-four, a Pakistani national whose father hailed 
from Kozhikode in North Kerala, and Mohammed Ali Hussain, also 
twenty-four and of Kashmiri origin.  The two were identified as 
members of Al Badr, a Pakistan based terrorist group that operates 
in Indian-administered Kashmir.  Hussain is said to have entered 
India illegally through the porous Indo-Pak border in Kashmir. 
Fahaad, however, entered India legally on a 45-day visa and stayed 
on.  The two had an extensive network of contacts, which helped them 
establish themselves in Mysore, Mr. Praveen Sood, Mysore City Police 
Commissioner told post. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Raids conducted by the Mysore city police on the apartment 
rented by the accused resulted in the seizure of a Russian AK 47 and 
a pistol made in Afghanistan, in addition to a Thuraya satellite 
phone, cell phones, a laptop computer and compact disks.  The laptop 
and compact disks contained telephone lists, a layout of Vidhan 
Soudha, the area that houses Karnataka's state legislature and 
Secretariat, and information about the large Infosys campus in 
 
SIPDIS 
Mysore.   Karnataka's Additional Director General of Police Internal 
Security told post that the arrests followed the interception of a 
satellite phone conversation by the Intelligence Bureau, India's 
counter-intelligence agency. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Leveraging local contacts and family ties, the two suspects 
unsuccessfully sought Indian passports.  Both bribed local officials 
to procure false birth certificates and one had assumed the identity 
of a deceased Muslim.  According to Police Commissioner Sood, the 
two individuals expended large sums in their attempt to acquire 
passports, but with little success.  In the case of Hussain, his 
inability to speak a word of Kannada despite claiming to be a Mysore 
resident for a number of years, as well as his physical features 
raised suspicion among the local police. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Kashmiri Police contacts of Embassy New Delhi reported 
that both men are known Al Badr terrorists who operated in Kashmir 
for years.  One was responsible for grenade attacks against tourist 
buses in the spring, while the other was reputedly a source of money 
for other terrorists operating in the Valley.  Kashmiri Police said 
the arrests were deeply worrying because Al Badr is "more brutal" 
and "dangerous" and it is especially troubling to them that these 
terrorists had left Kashmir and were operating on south India. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Mysore's City Police Commissioner Sood speculates 
that the two militants were an advanced team sent to establish a 
base in south India.  He believes their efforts to secure Indian 
identities indicated the two were planning to stay in the country 
for an extended period.  Their mission likely was to assist Al Badr 
and Al Qaeda operatives with logistics and intelligence.  If what 
the police are saying is true, these arrests provide additional 
evidence that west Punjabi and Kashmiri terrorist groups have 
expanded their focus to include political and economic targets in 
the Indian heartland, including the prosperous south.  Mysore is 
experiencing growth in the number of expatriates -- including 
Americans -- who go for tourism, and, increasingly, for business. 
End Comment. 
 
CHENNAI 00002467  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi. 
 
HOPPER