Vigilantes May Be Nepal’s Secret Weapon Against Rebels
By SOMINI SENGUPTA Published: April 11, 2005

KAPILVASTU DISTRICT, Nepal – In the fifth century B.C., this was where the Buddha came of age. Today, as this country sinks deeper into civil war, it is the epicenter of a violent tit for tat between pro-palace villagers and their enemies in a Maoist insurgency.

Since mid-February, in village after village in this district, ax-wielding vigilantes have attacked those they suspect of being Maoists; the rebels have retaliated by hunting down those they consider responsible.