VZCZCXRO1708
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2541/01 3551212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211212Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8982
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002541 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
S/CT: RHONDA SHORE, NCTC WASHINGTON DC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PK IN ASEC
SUBJECT: INDIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 109980 
 
1.(SBU) The following is Mission India's submission for the 
2009 Country Reports on Terrorism.  Begin Text: 
 
India remained one of the world's most terror-afflicted 
countries with over 1,000 deaths attributed to terrorist 
attacks in 2009, primarily in Kashmir, the Northeast, and the 
Maoist affected "Red Corridor."  Although there were no 
large-scale assaults similar to the November 26, 2008 attacks 
in Mumbai (known as "26/11"), senior government officials 
warned that India remained vulnerable on the basis of the 
volume of credible threats the government continued to 
receive. 
 
Some illustrative events: 
 
--On January 1, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) 
detonated several bombs in Guwahati, Assam, killing five 
people and injuring 50. 
 
--On February 1, Maoists killed and mutilated the bodies of 
15 police officers in Maharashtra's eastern district of 
Gadchiroli, looting guns and ammunition. 
 
--On May 3, state police arrested approximately 20 
sympathizers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) 
for attacking an army camp in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. 
 
--On June 4, police arrested Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) 
operative Mohammad Omar Madini in New Delhi. 
 
--On August 7, police arrested two suspected 
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists in New Delhi ahead of 
Independence Day celebrations. 
 
--On October 7, Maoists beheaded Police Inspector Francis 
Induwar near Ranchi, Jharkhand, after the Indian Government 
refused to respond to demand for the release of three jailed 
leaders. 
 
--On October 8, Maoists ambushed a police patrol in 
Maharashtra killing 17 police. 
 
--On December 2, Maoists in West Bengal beheaded school 
teacher Satya Kinkar Hansda following his earlier abduction. 
 
India continued to face persistent and significant external 
threats from groups including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), 
Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Harakat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami-Bangladesh. 
Although India received terrorist threats throughout the 
year, the government and media reported significant increases 
in threat information over holidays and during elections. 
During the five week period of the national parliamentary 
elections, security concerns prompted the Indian Premier 
League of cricket to switch to a South African venue. 
 
The state of Jammu and Kashmir, historically victim to the 
largest number of foreign terrorist attacks, saw casualties 
decline significantly from previous years.  The Ministry of 
Home Affairs (MHA) reported that 71 civilians and 52 members 
of the security forces were killed in terror-related violence 
in the state through November.  Home Minister P. Chidambaram 
reported to Parliament in December that 700 foreign 
insurgents were active in the state, down from 800 earlier in 
the year. 
 
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament that 
Maoists/Naxalites (left-wing) insurgent groups represented 
the most significant threat to domestic security, accounting 
for 1,906 incidents of violence and 911 fatalities during the 
year.  According to Home Minister Chidambaram, groups 
affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had 
pockets of influence in 20 states, but were primarily active 
in 223 districts across eight states known as the "Red 
Corridor", comprised of West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, 
Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and 
Karnataka.  Maoists conducted numerous attacks against police 
and local government officials and bombed railways, killing 
civilians and disrupting services.  No American citizens were 
victims of Maoist-related terrorism during the year.  Foreign 
companies were reportedly targeted for extortion.  In June, 
the central government banned Maoist groups under the 
 
NEW DELHI 00002541  002 OF 002 
 
 
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967.  Chief Ministers 
from the most heavily Maoist-affected states agreed to 
cooperate with the MHA to launch joint operations along 
inter-state borders.  MHA established counter-insurgency 
schools for police officials in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, 
Orissa, and Jharkhand.  The central government deployed 
additional security forces in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, and 
announced plans to deploy to eight additional states by 2011. 
 
Ethno-nationalist insurgent groups remained active, 
particularly in the Northeast. The ULFA, an internal 
terrorist group banned by India in 1990, continued a campaign 
of bombings in Assam state resulting in 27 fatalities this 
year. On December 2, security forces arrested ULFA Chairman 
Arabinda Rajkhowa on the Tripura-Bangladesh border.  The 
Assam state government offered talks and free passage to ULFA 
leaders in a bid to make peace with the group.  Home Minister 
Chidambaram reported to Parliament that the central 
government would agree to hold talks with the ULFA if the 
group "abjured violence." 
 
Parliamentary elections in April and May returned the ruling 
Congress Party-led coalition government to power despite 
criticism that security and intelligence lapses failed to 
prevent the 26/11 attacks. The new government instituted 
several reforms designed to augment its existing security 
structures and to develop new capabilities.  The MHA 
instituted regular meetings to improve communication among 
security agencies at the central and state levels, and 
assigned senior officers to review anti-terror and 
anti-Maoist operations.  The government implemented tighter 
immigration controls, and in some areas it also implemented 
more effective border management through fencing and flood 
lighting, as well as a coastal security project that began 
issuing identity cards to villagers in some coastal areas. 
The MHA instituted a mega-city police training program and, 
in coordination with the Ministry of Defense (MOD), 
established assistance programs to train state police. The 
MHA increased resources for the National Security Guard 
(NSG), India's first responder paramilitary force, and 
established NSG hubs in Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and 
Mumbai. It also reorganized the Multi-Agency Centers (MACs), 
tasked with collecting real-time intelligence and 
coordinating among agencies, and began establishing 
subsidiary MACs in state capitals.  The new National 
Investigation Agency created in the wake of the 26/11 attacks 
registered several cases in 2009, including one against David 
Headley, the alleged Lashkar-e-Tayyiba operative arrested in 
Chicago by the FBI.  The trial of Ajmal Kasab, the alleged 
loan surviving gunman involved in the 26/11 attack, continued 
in Mumbai. 
 
Amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 
came into force in June, furthering India's ability to combat 
the financing of terrorism.  Indian officials participated in 
the South Asian Regional Conference for Countering Terrorist 
Financing in the Charitable Sector in April.  The 
Asia/Pacific Group (APG) and the Financial Action Task Force 
(FATF) conducted a joint mutual evaluation in December to 
evaluate India's compliance with global anti-money laundering 
and counter-terror finance standards in the context of 
India's candidacy for FATF membership.  In December, India's 
Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Naresh Kumar Jain, 
allegedly a significant underground banker, as part of an 
operation to close a global network of illegal money 
transfers.  India had only one prosecutor assigned to money 
laundering cases, and has pursued only seven cases for money 
laundering and none for terror finance. 
 
In the wake of the 26/11 attack, the government increased its 
bilateral and multilateral cooperation with foreign 
governments on counterterrorism.  India continued to lead the 
effort in the United Nations to finalize the Comprehensive 
Convention against International Terrorism.  Senior Indian 
government officials, including the Home Minister, visited 
the United States to advance bilateral counterterrorism 
cooperation, culminating in the conclusion of the U.S.-India 
Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative during Prime Minister 
Singh's official state visit in November. 
 
ROEMER