VZCZCXRO1778
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH
DE RUEHCG #0015 0081130
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081130Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0534
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 2164
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1060
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1287
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0033
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0984
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4932
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0672

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, DS/IP/SCA AND DS/ITA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR ASEC CASC IN
SUBJECT: TERROR SUSPECT ARRESTED IN BANGALORE 
 
REF: 06 CHENNAI 2467 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On January 6, Bangalore City Police announced the 
arrest of Bilal Ahmed Kota, a Kashmiri also known as Imran, on 
suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack.  The suspect was arrested 
at a Bangalore suburb from a private bus coming into the city from 
north Karnataka.  Bangalore police told post they recovered an 
automatic weapon, ammunition, grenades and other items from the 
suspect.  The police also told us Bilal had been trained in Pakistan 
and is known to the Jammu-Kashmir state police.  The suspect is 
alleged to have resided for the past five years in the Karnataka 
tourist center of Hampi, where he operated a handcrafts store.  A 
Karnataka police intelligence official told us that Bilal's primary 
mission and affiliations have yet to be determined.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Bangalore City Police announced the arrest of a 32 year-old 
Kashmiri, Bilal Ahmed Kote, also known as Imran, from a private bus 
enroute to Bangalore from Hospet, a town in the north Karnataka 
district of Bellary.  A cardboard carton containing a Chinese Type 
56 automatic rifle, four ammunition magazines, five Chinese-made 
grenades, a Thuraya satellite phone and SIM cards to access various 
local networks were recovered from the suspect. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Bipin Gopalakrishna, Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore City 
Police, told post that the police have determined that Bilal had 
been a member of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Force in the 1990's 
and has visited Pakistan on several occasions.  In 1990 he underwent 
basic military training in Muzaffarabad on the Pakistan side of the 
Jammu-Kashmir border.  After returning to India, Bilal again made 
his way to Pakistan in 1994 and on his return journey he was 
arrested by the Border Security Force for illegally entering India. 
He was released, we were told, as there was little to link Bilal to 
specific terrorist acts.  Subsequently he was picked-up by the 
Jammu-Kashmir police on suspicion of aiding Kashmiri terrorists, but 
he again was released.  Bilal traveled to Pakistan in 2000, when he 
underwent a communications training program, and in 2005, when he 
allegedly met with senior leaders of Lakshar-e-Taiba, who gave him 
the satellite telephone.  According to our police contacts, almost 
all of Bilal's communications with his handlers were via e-mail 
using Roman script, with the satellite phone being seldom used, 
apparently to avoid detection. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Karnataka's Inspector General of Police Intelligence, 
Kishore Chandra, told post that for the past five years Bilal has 
lived in the Karnataka tourist town of Hampi where he operated a 
handcrafts store selling Kashmiri artifacts.  During this period 
Bilal established a network of contacts, mostly in the local 
Kashmiri community which has a large presence in the handicrafts 
trade.  Bangalore City Police's Gopalakrishna told us Bilal has 
three siblings: an elder brother and two sisters.  His elder brother 
is a driver in the Civil Supplies Corporation of the Government of 
Jammu-Kashmir; one sister is married to a vegetable vendor, while 
the second is yet to be married. Gopalakrishna said the suspect 
comes from a poor background and has completed middle school. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: The arrest of Bilal comes close on the heels of 
the arrests of two terror suspects in Mysore in December 2006 
(reftel).  As in the case of the previous arrests, the primary 
mission of the detainee remains unclear.  Karnataka's police 
intelligence chief, Chandra, told post that the suspect could have 
been on a reconnaissance mission.  As the affiliation of the suspect 
remains unclear, Karnataka police are working with their 
counterparts in Jammu Kashmir to establish the suspect's 
antecedents.  Post will continue to follow the investigation and 
will report on further developments as they emerge. 
 
HOPPER