Incident Summary:
06/15/2001: Ten people were tortured, shot, and killed when individuals belonging to the People's War Group (PWG) stopped a bus traveling in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India. The individuals killed were kidnapped from the buses and then shown off to journalists in the area before they were killed. The ten individuals were thought to be members of the People's War Group and were suspected of spying for the government against the PWG. The bodies of the victims were left on farms in Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts.
Overview
GTD ID:
200106150003
When:
2001-06-15
Country:
India
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Andhra Pradesh
City:
Karimnagar
Location Details:
A bus in the state of Andhra Pradesh's district of Karimnagar
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Terrorists/Non-state Militia |
Name of Entity |
People's War Group (PWG) |
Specific Description |
Ten members of the People's War Group suspected of being spies |
Nationality of Target |
India |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
10 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) killed (not during rescue attempt) |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
The sources say the victims were tortured and shot. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
An earlier source said 12 people were killed, but the two other sources said 10 were killed. The circumstances under which the people were kidnapped were unclear, as the details provided in the three sources made it difficult to tell if all the people were kidnapped at one time. It did seem they were all killed at one time. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
10 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
10 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
10 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Omer Farooq, "Suspected Maoist rebels kill 12 in India," Associated Press, June 16, 2001. |
"Left-wing gunmen kill 10 in southern India," Reuters, June 16, 2001. |
Omer Farooq, "Clashes between Maoist rebels and Indian police kill 10," Associated Press, June 19, 2001. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties