Nepal, Aug. 3 -- The Nepal Army general court-martial on July 25 convicted its former private Bikram Gurung for breaching the Army law by defecting with a rifle and ammunition to join then the CPN-Maoist on August 15, 2007. The Army court sentenced him to 10 years in jail and sent him to an Army prison in Chitwan on July 28.

Gurung, who was serving in the Kati Bahadur Battalion in Hetauda, left the force to join the Maoist party which had come to mainstream politics a few months ago. Gurung, who was into a hotel business at Kalanki, was arrested by the military-police earlier this year. Gurung faced the actions 12 years after defecting the force with arms and ammunition.

He was booked under Clause 51 of the Army Act which says that esca...