WikiLeaks: LeT planned to kill Modi, set up bases in south India

WASHINGTON - Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for Mumbai terror attack, had planned to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as a strike base in southern India, a leaked US diplomatic cable reveals.

A June 19, 2009 secret State Department cable signed (Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton released by whistleblower site WikiLeaks also suggests a dangerously expanding LeT network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The cable is marked “NOFORN”, shorthand for not to be shared with foreign governments.

“India - LT member Shafiq Khafa possibly preparing for operations: Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June,” the secret intelligence cable relating to terrorist activities around the world read.

“The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car. Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer,” it said.

“Separate tearline indicates, &Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India. Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,” it said.

“19. (S//NF) DS/TIA/ITA notes earlier credible tearline suggests Khafa’s network is striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal,” another paragraph of the cable read.

“Although specific details of planned LT attacks remain unknown, late-May intelligence indicates Khafa’s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

“Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months,” the cable said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)