Kathmandu, December 23
Police have uncovered that two young men were murdered within two days in Lalitpur by the same group, with debt cited as the primary motive. The revelation emerged while investigating one murder, which led police to discover another killing linked to the same suspects.
Police have arrested two people on murder charges: Devaraj Dhungel, also known as Ramesh, of Golanjor Rural Municipality, Sindhuli, and Jayaram Adhikari. The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office arrested them in coordination with the Lalitpur District Police Office and with assistance from the Sindhuli District Police.
According to SSP Ramesh Basnet of the Crime Investigation Office, the two accused jointly killed 21-year-old Paruhang Rai of Bhojpur and Keshavraj Hayu of Golanjor-3, Sindhuli. Adhikari was arrested on Sunday evening with the help of Sindhuli Police and brought to Kathmandu at around 10 pm. Dhungel had been arrested earlier.
Police said the murders were primarily driven by unpaid loans. Investigators stated that Dhungel had sent his wife to Japan about four months ago, for which he had taken loans. To repay those debts, he later borrowed Rs 600,000 from his brother-in-law Keshavraj and Rs 500,000 from Paruhang. When both began demanding repayment, Dhungel allegedly planned and carried out the murders.
“The motive is clearly linked to debt. It appears the killings were committed to avoid repayment,” SSP Basnet said.
Killed in the forest on the pretext of an outing
Dhungel and the deceased Keshavraj were brothers-in-law. They had jointly leased land in Mahalakshmi Municipality-8, Sherphant, Lalitpur, to run an agricultural farm. Paruhang, who lived nearby, operated another farm in the same area.
Investigators said Dhungel had told the families of both lenders that the money was being handed over because he was going abroad, apparently to prevent suspicion if they later lost contact.
After planning the murder, Dhungel invited Keshavraj for an outing to a hill area. Jayaram Adhikari joined them, and the trio went to a forest in an area known as Jyamire in Lalitpur, where they consumed alcohol. After Keshavraj became intoxicated, he was allegedly struck with a hammer carried in a bag, killing him. His hands, legs and mouth were taped, and the body was left there.
Second murder the following day
Believing he no longer needed to repay Keshavraj’s loan, Dhungel then targeted Paruhang to be free of the remaining Rs 500,000 debt. Using a similar pretext, Paruhang was taken to a forest in Suryabinayak Municipality-7, on the Lalitpur–Bhaktapur border, on Mangsir 25.
After he was intoxicated, he too was allegedly killed with a hammer. His body was taped, wrapped in plastic and thrown down a cliff.
Body found a week later; slipper becomes key evidence
When both men went missing, their families filed complaints with the police. Meanwhile, the agricultural farm co-owned by Dhungel and Keshavraj had already been sold to Deepak Thapa Magar of Rolpa.
Workers later noticed a suspiciously large sack in a well at the Sherphant farm and informed police. Upon inspection, police recovered a body, which the family identified as Keshavraj’s. At that point, there was still no information on Paruhang’s whereabouts.
Police intensified the investigation and grew suspicious of Dhungel, though he appeared to be actively assisting in the search. Keshavraj had been living with his girlfriend at the farm. After a dispute, he had gone to Sindhuli and did not return. During this period, his girlfriend damaged the shed in anger, and Dhungel recorded a video of the incident and even sent it to his wife in Japan.
When Keshavraj’s body was recovered from the well on Poush 2, police also found a slipper nearby. Initially, its ownership was unclear. Later, the video of the shed being vandalised reached the police through relatives, and the slipper seen in the video matched the one found at the crime scene. This led police to identify the slipper as belonging to Dhungel.
Police then asked Dhungel to show his rented room in Bhaktapur. Though he initially tried to mislead officers, he eventually showed the room, where police found blood-stained clothes, a broken hammer and tape. The tape used to bind the body matched the tape recovered from his room, leading police to conclude that Dhungel had killed his brother-in-law, though he continued to deny the charges.
Arrest of Jayaram reveals second killing
Despite physical evidence, Dhungel denied involvement. Technical analysis, however, showed that another person had been present at the crime scene and had been in contact with Dhungel by phone. This led police to Jayaram Adhikari, who was arrested at his home in Golanjor, Sindhuli.
During initial questioning, Adhikari not only confessed to Keshavraj’s murder but also revealed the killing of another person. He led police to a forest in Suryabinayak-7, where Paruhang’s body was recovered. Police then confirmed that two murders had been committed within two days.
Body transported on motorcycle and dmped in well
Police said Keshavraj was initially killed in the rural area of Jyamirkot, Lalitpur. Fearing the body would be discovered, the accused returned two days later, on Mangsir 26, packed the body in a sack, transported it on a motorcycle, and dumped it into the well at the farm they had sold.
“Dhungel rode the motorcycle, with the body placed in the middle and Jayaram seated behind, before dumping it into the well,” SP Kajikumar Acharya said. The act was carried out around midnight. A motorcycle found in the bushes of Jyamirkot was later identified as one rented by the deceased Hayu for two days.
Deal for Rs 200,000, paid only Rs 10,000
Police said Dhungel and Adhikari were close friends. Dhungel had called Adhikari from Sindhuli to Kathmandu after planning the murders. Adhikari told police that Dhungel promised him Rs 200,000 to clear his own debt if he assisted in the killings.
However, after the murders, Dhungel allegedly paid him only Rs 10,000. “He promised Rs 200,000 but later gave me just Rs 10,000. After that, I returned home and stayed quietly,” Adhikari was quoted by a police officer as saying.
