On 18 Jestha 2038, at 7 am, Namita Bhandari, Sunita Bhandari, and Neera Parajuli, two young women from affluent families in Lazimpat, Kathmandu, set out to visit Pokhara. They were accompanied by Namita-Sunita's brother (grandfather's son) Ballabh Bhandari, his wife Vijaya, sister Sharada, and their son. That trip was Namita-Sunita's first visit to Pokhara.

After reaching Pokhara at 2:30 in the afternoon, the three girls arrived at Ballav's house in Bagale Tol. Ballav, who worked as a buyer at the Pokhara depot of Janakpur Cigarette Factory, lived in a small room. Neera went to her uncle's house that evening.

After wandering around Pokhara for a few days, Sunita wrote a letter home on 23 Jestha. In that letter, she wrote, 'Greetings to my respected father and sister. Has Pradeep Daju's letter arrived or not? We will return in two or four days, but I am still writing this letter with great desire. Since everything will be known from Namita's letter, I will end this letter here. Please convey my greetings to Muma and father on behalf of Neera. - That's Sunita.' However, that letter never reached home.

Disappearance and mysterious death

Early on Saturday morning, 24 Jestha, the three girls planned to go to visit Begnas Lake. However, all three of them disappeared from that day onwards. On Thursday, 29th Jestha, a terrible news shattered the family. The body of a young woman was found in a ditch under the Prithvi Narayan Campus on the banks of the Seti River. The body, with its head turned east and its body lying on its side, was that of Namita. She was wearing lilac-colored pajamas and was almost naked above the waist. The identity cards of both sisters and a gold locket were found in a ladies' bag hanging from her neck.

The superintendent of Gandaki Zonal Hospital, Dr. Kumar Shamsher Rana, kept postponing Namita's postmortem, saying, "It will be done the next day." The postmortem report used the language of "died by drowning in water without being able to breathe," reaching the height of rudeness, while the condition of the body indicated violence and rape.

Exactly 9 days later, on 6th Ashar, the body of another young woman was found on the banks of the Seti River. The body, which was lying on the ground about four feet above the Seti River, was that of Sunita. She was wearing a dark-colored half-sleeved kurta and a black undergarment. There were silver and gold rings on both hands. Neera has not been found to this day.

The mysterious murder of Sakshi Chudamani

Babu Madhavraj Bhandari himself started investigating. While walking around the Phulbari area on Asad 3, he came across an important clue – Chudamani Adhikari, a forest ranger working at the District Forest Office. Chudamani often crossed the Seti River to his home by crossing the wooden bridge under the campus. It was assumed that he might have some information about the incident.

On Asad 4, Madhavraj went to the forest office and sought permission to meet Chudamani. With the consent of Forest Officer Lalit Ratna Shakya, Chudamani was taken to the cooperative building. However, while the conversation was going on, two policemen suddenly arrived and took Madhavraj along with Chudamani to the police office. Both were detained until the evening. Madhavraj and Chudamani were asked to appear at 10 am the next day.

On the morning of 5th Ashad, Chudamani walked from his house to the police office. He had given his watch to his elder wife Tikadevi. Ghandruke Gurung, 80, who lives in Phulbari, was the last person to see him. Chudamani had said, ‘Gurung Ba, the police have called me. If I don’t return today, tell the old woman not to worry.’ After that, Chudamani never returned. How was he murdered and his body disappeared? That remains a mystery even today. Chudamani’s elder wife Tikadevi, another mentally retarded wife, a 6-year-old daughter and two sons became orphans. Why was Chudamani, a poor employee who had not bothered anyone in his 16-17 years of working life, disappeared? No one knows.

Abuse of power and miscarriage of justice

This case was closed secretly just 10 days after the royal assassination of King Birendra in 2058 BS. On 29 Jestha, the then Appellate Government Attorney's Office in Pokhara sent a secret letter to the District Government Attorney's Office. The letter stated - 'Since no case has been filed against anyone at present, please proceed as per the law.' Thus, the case, which was said to be the plaintiff 'Shri 5's government' and the defendant 'not opened', was closed. When the country was at a standstill, why was this case closed in such a hurry before King Birendra's work was even completed? It has not been opened yet. After that, the Police Headquarters showed interest in closing the file. Through communication order serial number 10,899, it was requested to 'send the file related to the Namita-Sunita murder case safely and immediately'. On 18 Mangsir 2060 BS, the file was sent to Kathmandu and the case was completely closed.

While this process was going on, the current President Ram Chandra Poudel was the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, while Badri Prasad Mandal was the Home Minister when the case was completely closed. Mandal was the Health Minister when Namita-Sunita were raped. 

False investigation and forced statements

On various dates in Jestha 2058, Pokhara residents were forced to go door to door and give positive statements in favor of the administration. Almost the same type of statements were taken from people like Arjun Bikram Rana, Binod Parajuli, Ram Bhushan Parajuli, Rudra Mani Parajuli. Everyone's answer was the same - 'I came to know that the bodies of Namita-Sunita Bhandari were found on the banks of the Seti River, I don't know who killed them, I don't know where Neera Parajuli is.' All this drama was done for the same purpose - to show the world that there was not enough evidence to prove the murder.

The suffering of the victim's family

Madhavraj Bhandari reached Pokhara after receiving the news that his daughters were missing, but by then Namita's body had been found. Madhavraj, who was taken to Aryaghat at the young age of 28 after being overwhelmed by extreme grief in 1899 and was reborn, also lost his life during the Corona period.

After the change in 2046, there was hope that the incident would be investigated impartially and the guilty would be punished, but that hope is limited to hope. Less than 10 years after Namita and Sunita were killed, Madhavraj's job was taken away two years before he was forced to retire due to the whims of the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Sunita's elder brother Pradeep reached the UK. Unable to bear the cruelty inflicted on his sisters, he became mentally deranged. Neera's father Thiramani passed away in 2057. 

A web of conspiracy

Who was involved in this incident? It has been made public, but legal action has not been taken. It is claimed that the plan was made from Kathmandu before the incident. The fact that some members of the royal court, their close friends and some influential people were involved has been made public from time to time. 

Various sources have mentioned the names of the then Crown Prince Dhirendra Shah, Udaya Shamsher Jabra (Komal Shah's brother), artist Neer Shah and businessman Binod Shankar Shrestha. However, Neer Shah has denied his involvement. In the book 'Another Murder Suppressed After the Court Incident' by journalist Kishore Shrestha, written on the Namita-Sunita murder case, it is mentioned that the then Zonal Officer of Gandaki, Ganeshman Shrestha, kept photos of the suspects, but did not use them. Many investigators have admitted that the incident was linked to powerful people and therefore the evidence was destroyed. 

On 32, Jestha 2038, Police Inspector Baburam Pun had deployed a police team to search for Jhalakman Raut. The team reached Hanumandhoka, but could not arrest him. He was searched for again in 2058, but again failed. ‘What was his involvement?’ The mystery remains. 

Relationship with the palace massacre

The royal massacre took place on 19 Jestha 2058, 20 years after the Namita-Sunita murder case was suppressed. And, exactly 10 days after that, the Namita-Sunita murder case was closed. Experts say that this is not just a coincidence. 

The entire nation was mourning the destruction of King Birendra’s dynasty and the process of granting immunity to those involved in the crime was started. The state machinery, taking advantage of the public’s attention being focused on the palace massacre, destroyed evidence of another murder. 

Legal battle

On 1 Asar 2038, Madhavraj Bhandari filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Pokhara. He had expressed suspicion that goons might have chased and killed the daughters, stating that ‘there was no reason for the daughters to commit suicide’. At the end of the application, he wrote – ‘Therefore, if a crime has been committed and the investigation is carried out with special interest, I humbly request that the culprit be appropriately punished and if it has not been committed, a search be conducted for the purpose of finding the person alive or dead.’ However, instead of being proactive, the administration moved towards suppressing the case. The found vendors, milk sellers, and pickpockets were arrested and unnecessarily harassed, but no attention was paid to finding the real culprit.

This incident proves that even in the 21st century, the Nepali justice system has become a puppet of the powerful. Even after the people’s movement of 2046 BS, after the people’s movement of 2062-063 BS, and after the declaration of the republic, those involved in this case have not been brought to justice.

The most surprising thing is that after the destruction of King Birendra’s dynasty on 19 Jestha and only 10 days after Gyanendra ascended the throne, the then 20-year-old case was secretly resolved. Another young woman, Neera Parajuli, remains missing to this day. What happened to her, where is she – this remains a mystery. How and why did Chudamani Adhikari, who could have been an important witness, disappear? Although many suspects involved in the crime have been named, no one has been formally charged. Why and on whose orders was the case suppressed? 

When the file of the Namita-Sunita murder case was closed in 2058, Ramesh Shekhar Vajracharya was the Chief of Kaski Police. He remembers that the file was closed because the statute of limitations had expired. ‘According to the provisions of the Government Cases Act, 2049, in cases involving murder, if the defendant is not found or is absconding even after being found, a 20-year statute of limitations applies,’ he said, retired from the AIG. ‘At that time, the government attorney’s office was sent to close the case as per the mandatory provisions of the same statute of limitations. However, the missile does not die. The process moves forward when the defendant is found. This is what happened in the case of Charles Sobhraj.’