NEPALGUNJ/KATHMANDU, Feb 7: Police reinforcements have been dispatched to Pyuthan on Saturday afternoon to search for an armed group that attacked a police station in Syaulibang in Pyuthan district Friday night. The armed group killed a police sentry and looted all 10 weapons from the station.
A police team was flown to the incident site at about 12:30 p.m. from Kathmandu, according to Deputy Inspector General Madan Bahadur Khadka in the Mid-West Regional Police Office in Nepalgunj.
“They will search for the assailants from the helicopter. They will recover the looted arms," he said. [break]
Also on Saturday afternoon, police teams from Dang, Rolpa and Pyuthan districts have left for Syaulibang on foot.
Police suspect a group of renegade Maoists who killed two Maoist workers during the last year’s constituent assembly elections attacked at the post. The group is active in Gam area in Rolpa district. However, the chief district officer of Pyuthan, Krishna Shyam Budhathoki said a local ethnic-based group called Mangolian Mukti Morcha could have hand in the attack.
This is the first attack on police post in this area after the Maoists joined peaceful politics. The police station manned by 10 policemen lies 42 kilometers from Khalanga (Pyuthan).
Around 50-60 assailants carrying modern firearms were involved in the attack. The dead police sentry has been identified as Suman GC, a resident of Chisawan, Pyuthan. Three policemen who had gone missing after the attack have already come into contact, according to Budhathoki.
The attackers also beat up several policemen. Police Sub Inspector Dev Bahadur Gurung sustained injuries. His condition is reported normal.
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