US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1638

S E C R E T KATHMANDU 001638 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, IN, NP 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  INDIAN AMBASSADOR ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES IN 
INDIA 
 
REF: A. KATHMANDU 1611 
 
     B. KATHMANDU 1612 
 
Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (S)  Summary:  The August 20 arrest in Chennai of Maoist 
Politburo member Chandra Gajurel is the most significant 
capture of a member of the insurgents' leadership in more 
than seven years of conflict.  While the reasons for 
Gajurel's intended travel to the UK remain unclear, his 
arrest could be an important example of the international 
cooperation, support and resolve needed to help the 
Government of Nepal (GON) counter the insurgency. 
 
2.  (S)  In an August 26 conversation with the Ambassador, 
Shyam Saran, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, said that Chandra 
Gajurel, the Maoist arrested in Chennai on August 20 (Ref B), 
is the highest-ranking Central Committee member (said to be 
ranked fourth in the Politburo) arrested yet in either Nepal 
or India.  Saran said that Gajurel was responsible for 
maintaining liaison with and extorting money from expatriate 
Nepalis to finance insurgent activities.  (Note:  Gajurel was 
arrested at Chennai's airport reportedly carrying a 
fraudulent British passport.)  Although initial stories in 
the press reported that he was en route to Frankfurt, Saran 
indicated that the Maoist was actually headed to the UK. 
(Relatives of many high-ranking Maoists are known to be 
currently in the UK.  A Nepali press contact told us of 
recent reports that the brother of insurgent supremo 
Prachanda is now in the UK.) 
 
3.  (S)  According to Saran, Nepalis living in India have 
frequently complained of Maoist extortion in their 
neighborhoods and communities. If they refuse the demands for 
payment, the Maoists threaten them with violence.  The August 
25 murders of two Nepalis in the Mayapuri section of New 
Delhi could be related to such extortion, he suggested.  At 
the same time, three separate local Maoist commanders in 
Nepal have reportedly absconded to India with funds embezzled 
from extortion.  Saran opined that this could be indicative 
of command and control problems among the Maoists.  He 
speculated that Gajurel might have been intending to travel 
to the UK to launder money. 
 
4.  (S)  The Ambassador congratulated Saran for the Indian 
Embassy's tough reaction to Prachanda's request that the 
Indian government release Gajurel as a show of good will. 
Saran replied that the August 25 kidnapping of three Indian 
employees--unprecedented in the seven years of the 
insurgency--at the paper mill torched by the Maoists on 
August 25 (ref A) could be a Maoist reaction to Gajurel's 
arrest. 
 
5.  (C)  In an August 27 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Shailendra Upadhaya, one of four facilitators in peace talks 
between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists and a 
long-time Embassy contact, reiterated that the arrest of 
Gajurel marks a significant setback for the Maoists.  He 
speculated that Gajurel may have been attempting to travel to 
the UK in order to meet secretly with King Gyanendra, who is 
currently visiting the UK for a medical check-up, for 
off-line "negotiations."  The Maoists frequently have 
expressed a desire to meet the King, he noted.  The Indians 
might have learned of such a plan, he theorized, and moved 
quickly to quash it.  (Comment:  We have received no 
indications from any other source of any intention by the 
King or anyone in his entourage in London to meet Gajurel or 
any other Maoist representative.  End comment.) 
 
6.  (S)  Comment:  We have long held that the key to 
resolving the insurgency is firm, concerted international 
pressure on the Maoist leadership, especially from India. 
Gajurel's capture, which breaks an important link in the 
Maoists' logistical organization, suggests that such pressure 
may be growing. 
MALINOWSKI