A similar plan may be unfolding ahead of polls as well with the Pulwama terror strike that has left India will no option but to respond with military action, sources say. India shared that the spurt of activities was noticed from the start of March 2009 and groups of terrorist camped up in the Haji Peer area of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Pakistan attempted to disrupt the last Indian national elections in 2009 too with a major terror event that was backed by heavy infiltration of Jaish and Lashkar terrorists from across the Line of Control, a leaked, top secret US government cable reveals.

Diplomatic sources fear that a similar plan may be unfolding ahead of the general elections this year as well with the Pulwama terror strike that has left the Indian government will no option but to respond with military action. There is also a belief that the attack bears the strong signature of a Pakistan ISI backed move to hit India and engineer a divide ahead of the elections.

A similar plot was being rolled off when the senior Indian leadership, including then National Security Advisor MK Naryanan briefed visiting US officials a week before elections in April 2009 that a dramatic increase had taken place in the number of terrorists crossing over and that it was inconceivable that “this escalation is not orchestrated by elements of the Government of Pakistan”.

“Narayanan and Menon (then foreign secretary) speculated that the upcoming (April 16-May 15) Indian national elections may be the proximate cause of the expanded cross-border efforts. A substantial terrorist event would both impact on the conduct of the elections (and possibly their outcome) and put enormous new pressure on the Indian government to respond in some major way,” the secret US cable that was leaked in August 2011 says.

The meeting between senior Indian officials and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen took place on April 8, a week before elections started.

While it is not clear if the US managed to pressurise Pakistan adequately after the Indian diplomatic push but no substantive terror attack took place ahead of the 2009 elections that had the potential to disrupt the process.

A `non-paper’ (unofficial) was shared with the US delegation that detailed specific intelligence inputs, including satellite phone intercepts, interrogation statements and ground reports. “Indian expectations of a major terrorist event have increased and they are concerned that groups may have been successful in crossing into India undetected,” the leaked report reads.

Describing the substantive meetings with Indian officials, that included the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Sureesh Mehta, the report said that infiltrations have been taking places with larger than normal groups and that the terrorists were `heavily armed, better equipped and better trained’ than before.

“Given the numbers of infiltrators, it is "inconceivable" to the Indians that this escalation is not orchestrated by elements of the Government of Pakistan….Indian expectations of a major terrorist event have increased and they are concerned that groups may have been successful in crossing into India undetected,” it says.

The Indian paper shared with US officials said that while in 2008, the total infiltration was 57, in the first four months of 2009, 94 terrorists infiltrated into the valley and that large groups of infiltrators from “Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkare-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad” were being pushed in.

“A group of 25 armed terrorists infiltrated from Tanagdhar area in Kupwara district, and were interdicted in two different forests Drangyari and Hafruda. The encounter lasted for 7 days, in which 18 infiltrators were killed and 8 army personnel, including 1 Major lost their lives. As none of the killed militants could be identified, it lends credence to the belief that they were Pakistani nationals,” the note said.

“The use of GPS, maps and compass indicates the high quality of military training being accorded to these terrorists. The terrorists were well prepared and carried butane gas cylinders to cut the fence, where required,” it reads.

India shared that the spurt of activities was noticed from the start of March 2009 and groups of terrorist camped up in the Haji Peer area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Also, that 281 terrorists were located at launching pads, waiting to cross in.