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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV IN
SUBJECT: MAOISTS BRAZENLY KILL JHARKHAND PARLIAMENTARIAN DURING 
FOOTBALL MATCH 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On Sunday March 4 Maoist rebels shot and 
killed Sunil Mahto, a Member of Parliament (MP) from the city of 
Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and General Secretary of the Jharkhand 
Mukti Morcha (JMM) political party.  The attack occurred at a 
football tournament in the village of Ghatshila, near the 
Jharkhand-West Bengal border.  Chief Minister Madhu Koda 
accepted blame for a lapse in security to protect Mahto, and 
ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation 
(CBI).  The JMM called a Jharkhand "bandh" (strike) on March 5 
to protest the attack.  Although speculation abounds as to the 
motive for the killing, what is clear is that state efforts at 
curbing Maoist activity have not been successful, and that 
Maoists are able to operate freely in the state. End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Jamshedpur MP and JMM General Secretary Sunil Mahto, 
along with three others were shot dead by Maoist rebels at a 
football tournament in a village near Ghatshila (bordering West 
Bengal) on Sunday March 4 evening. According to an eyewitness 
statement, around 25 armed Maoists including three women came 
from behind the make shift tent at the football field where 
Mahto was sitting. While some of them walked up to the 
unsuspecting MP pretending to "play Holi," (the Holi festival 
took place March 3-4) the others shot him at a close range with 
the weapons they had grabbed from his bodyguards. Police said 
the rebels pumped around seven rounds into Mahto's chest and 
abdomen.  Before escaping from the scene of crime, the Maoists 
also set fire to Mahto's vehicle. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The 41-year-old Mahto was the chief guest at the prize 
distribution ceremony of the football tournament, being held in 
the memory of Santosh Mahto, leader of an anti-Maoist 
organization, who was himself killed by Maoists a few months 
ago. Jharkhand police officials told Post that this was the 
first time that Maoists had killed a sitting MP from Jharkhand. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Media reports suggest that Mahto had fewer than normal 
security personnel guarding him at the time of the attack. 
Jharkhand's Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi told 
journalists that, "The incident is shocking and it indicates 
security lapses. Neither Sunil (Mahto) had ever raised his 
security issue, nor had the intelligence agencies given any 
input regarding the security threat. We are shocked by the 
incident and we will review the security of VIPs in the state." 
Chief Minister Madhu Koda accepted the purported lapse in 
security and ordered a manhunt to catch the killers, saying the 
attack had "hurt" his government and that he would take "all 
steps to curb extremism." The Jharkhand government has 
recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation 
(CBI), and Union Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal traveled to 
Jharkhand to obtain a report from the government. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The JMM called a Jharkhand "bandh" on March 5 to 
protest against the attack. All other political parties have 
extended their support to the bandh. In Jamshedpur, a city 
founded by the Tata family, the Tatas cancelled their Founder's 
Day celebrations.  The attack has raised the continuing problem 
of Maoist violence in the state, where Maoists operate in 18 out 
of 22 districts.  Former Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Chief 
Minister of Jharkhand (now an independent MP) Babulal Marandi 
opined that all the previous state governments including the 
present state government had ignored intelligence reports that 
some of the MPs are target of Maoists.  Union Food Processing 
Minister and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay told the media, 
"Jharkhand government has failed to deliver and has not taken 
the help of the Center to counter the MCC (Maoist) violence. We 
are willing to provide all and sundry to fight this menace, but 
the state government has to come forward to receive it." Local 
BJP General Secretary Sunil Singh added, "The basic issue is 
that the Naxalite menace is growing in the state as there are no 
concerted efforts brought out by the affected states in the 
country to control this. Maintenance of Law and order should be 
clubbed with developmental works in the areas which have been 
left behind in the race since independence." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Some political figures took a more conspiratorial 
line.  A JMM leader on the condition of anonymity said that, 
"Sunil Mahto was on the verge of becoming a Union minister as he 
would have filled up the vacancy created by Guruji (Shibu 
Soren)." (Note: Prior to the attack, JMM had four MPs in the 
Parliament, including JMM chief and former Union coal minister 
 
KOLKATA 00000074  002 OF 002 
 
 
Shibu Soren who is now in a Jharkhand jail convicted of murder). 
 Another source in the state Congress party told Post that Mahto 
was "basically interested in grabbing civil contracts in his 
area (Jamshedpur)." The Chief Minister has asked for more about 
the organizers of the football match. "It could be that the 
football match was organized to trap the MP as he had special 
weakness for football," a senior police official told Post. 
Salman Ravi a senior journalist who reports for the BBC from 
Jharkhand told Post that "it may be a plot, but it would be 
clear only after a preliminary enquiry is made into it. The 
Maoists had definite information about the MP's movement and the 
entire attack looks planned." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  The killing of a Member of Parliament in the 
state has sent ripples through Jharkhand's fragile state 
government. Chief Minister Koda has asked government officials 
to seal the borders with West Bengal and carry out a total 
manhunt for the attackers. Even if the attackers are found, the 
manner and brazenness of the killing show that Maoists can 
operate unfettered in Jharkhand, and that the state apparatus 
has yet to come up with an adequate plan of action to combat the 
Maoist menace. 
JARDINE