VZCZCXRO6904
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #1705/01 2131133
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011133Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9269
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1853
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4820
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0563
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1237
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0517
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0963

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 001705 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINS PTER PHUM ASEC IN
SUBJECT: MAOIST LEADERS KILLED IN ANDHRA PRADESH 
 
REF: A) Mumbai 1317 B) 05 Chennai 2761 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: In a recent series of incidents in the state 
of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in south India, police forces have 
killed numerous Maoist insurgents, including several 
leaders.  Although the number of Maoist fighters in AP has 
fallen due to police action and moves into neighboring 
states, there is no end in sight for the insurgency.  End 
summary. 
Two Maoist Leaders Killed in July 23 Clash                 - 
----------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Police contacts in Andhra Pradesh have confirmed to 
us press reports of several recent clashes with Maoist (AKA 
Naxalite) insurgents in various parts of the state.  In the 
most recent and one of the largest incidents, on July 23, 
eight Maoists including four women were killed in a shoot- 
out with police in the dense Nallamala forest in central 
Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district.  Among the killed was 
Madhav, AP state secretary of the Communist Party of India - 
Maoist (CPI(Maoist)).  Madhav had replaced previous 
CPI(Maoist) leader Ramakrishna, who had led the group's 
delegation to the 2004 peace talks with the AP government. 
Also killed in the clash was Jeevan, Maoist committee 
secretary in Guntur district, also in central AP.  Jeevan 
 
SIPDIS 
carried a Rs. 500,000 (US$ 11,111) reward on his head. 
¶2. (U) According to senior police official and Chief of the 
Grey Hounds, Mr. Durga Prasad, the operation that led to the 
July 23 shoot-out was based on a tip-off that a Maoist 
meeting was scheduled to be held in the forest.  The 
police's elite Grey Hounds unit, which is devoted to anti- 
Maoist operations, had been combing the area for three days 
when the gun battle broke out on July 23.  Madhav, alias 
Burra Chinnanna Goud alias Srisailam, aged 48, had joined 
the Maoist movement about 25 years ago and was elevated to 
the position of CPI(Maoist) state secretary in 2005.  Madhav 
was wanted in several cases of violence, including the 
October 2003 assassination bid on former Chief Minister N. 
Chandrababu Naidu. 
 
Other Recent Anti-Maoist Actions 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) According to Grey Hounds chief Prasad, the July 23 
shoot-out was one of series of such incidents in AP during 
recent months.  In a separate major encounter on June 27, a 
group of eight Maoists, including the commander of the 
Nallamala dalam (group), his deputy and six others were 
killed by police in central AP's Mahaboobnagar district. 
On June 21, police killed two Maoists, including district 
committee secretary Jagadeesh, in an encounter in Khammam, 
to the south of neighboring Chhattisgarh state. On June 19, 
two Maoists were gunned down on the AP-Chhattisgarh border. 
In April, four Maoists were killed in an encounter after 
they attacked two motorized launches in Nagarjunakonda, 
Guntur district.  Following the July 17 Maoist attack on an 
IDP camp at Erraboru village in Chhattisgarh (see ref a), AP 
Grey Hounds personnel crossed into Chhattisgarh to assist 
local police there in tracking down the attackers. 
 
Maoists Down, But Far From Out 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) The AP police actions have taken their toll.  AP 
police told us, for example, that over the past six months 
the number of armed Maoist cadres in the central and 
southern parts of the state has been reduced from 130 to 70. 
Since January 2006 throughout AP, 183 Maoists have 
surrendered while another 82 have been killed, according to 
the police.  Killings committed by Maoist have dropped in 
turn.  During the first six months of 2006, Maoists killed 
26 people, including seven police, in AP as compared to 211 
killings, of whom 25 were police, in all of 2005. 
Nonetheless, police believe that overall Maoist strength in 
AP is down only slightly from the estimate of 1,000 armed 
fighters they gave to us in late 2005 (ref b).  Indeed, 
after the recent incidents the AP government stepped up 
security throughout the state. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: AP Chief Minister YSR Reddy denied that 
the July 23 incident was a fake "encounter killing."  After 
the clash, AP Home Minister Jana Reddy appealed to the 
Maoists to join the mainstream and offered to hold talks if 
they would lay down their weapons.  Given the fact that 
police encounter killings of Maoists continue, it is 
unlikely that the Maoists will take seriously the call for 
peace talks.  There may not be any immediate Maoist 
 
CHENNAI 00001705  002 OF 002 
 
 
retaliation due to the increased security in the state, but 
our contacts advised us to expect more encounters and 
exchanges of fire. 
 
HOPPER