Combatants quit PLA

ITAHARI, Feb 7: Brigade vice commander at the first division of the Maoists´ People´s Liberation Army (PLA) Ramesh Khadka has defected to the Revolutionary Left Wing (RLW), a splinter group of the UCPN (Maoist), led by Mani Thapa. He declared his defection at a press meet in Itahari Sunday. Khadka will work for “the National Red Guard”, a youth wing of the RLW.



At the press meet, Khadka claimed that many combatants of the first division at Chulachuli of Ilam are frustrated with the UCPN (Maoist) as the party leaders have “deviated from the revolutionary ideology and indulged in new found luxuries”. [break]



Of the 600 disqualified combatants in the first division, 476 were discharged on January 25. Khadka said others had already left the cantonment, most of them opting for abroad employment.



There are 1931 combatants in the first division. The combatants started defecting to the splinter groups especially after the discharge of disqualified combatants.



RLW leaders claim that some 500 combatants, including the disqualified ones, have joined their party. RLW Eastern Division in-charge Anabarat claimed that an increasing number of Maoist combatants are defecting to his party.



Some combatants have also joined the Maoist splinter group led by Matrika Yadav. “The combatants are currently joining our party. The party is collecting the data on their number,” said Yadav.



However, PLA commander at Chulachuli Yam Prasad Adhikary refuted the news that the combatants, including the disqualified ones, are joining the splinter groups. “It is just a rumor. They have not joined any group,” he said.

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