By IANS
Kathmandu : A group of Nepali Maoist guerrillas Saturday said they were rebelling against their party and beginning a new armed revolt.
The group had attacked a police post Thursday and looted weapons in violation of the peace pact with the government.
Raj Kumar Regmi, a disgruntled Maoist, who headed Thursday’s attack on the Fikuri police post in Nuwakot district north of Kathmandu, said nearly four dozen rebels had left the party with him and were supporting him.
Regmi, who is known by his nom de guerre Sandesh, said the splinter group has been named Janabadi Yuva Sangathan – People’s Youth Group – and would resume the armed revolt the Maoists had started in 1996.
This is the sixth breakaway group from the Maoist party in Nepal.
Currently, there are three factions of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha, which are active in the Terai plains in the south.
A fifth group is headed by Roshan, a former senior Maoist leader from the Tharu community, one of Nepal’s most disadvantaged groups.
The sixth group, said to be based in Kathmandu, has also said it will resume armed struggle.
Regmi said he and his followers had left the party due to disillusionment, corruption and nepotism.
Maoists however said Regmi and his men had been expelled for going against party principles.
Since Thursday’s attack, security personnel as well as the Maoists’ youth wing, the Young Communist League, have been searching for the deserters, who made off with three firearms and several rounds of ammunition.
However, till Saturday, the deserters had not been traced nor the arms recovered.