Dashdhunga Accident

The Dashdhunga Accident (also known sometimes as Dashdhunga Murder or Dashdhunga Massacre, दाशढुंगा  हत्याकाण्ड  in Nepali ) was a car accident that occurred on 16 May 1993 in Nepal’s Chitwan District’s Dashdhunga area. A popular Nepali communist leader, General Secretary of CPN (UML), a leftist political party in Nepal, Madan Bhandari and another communist leader and organisational department chief of the same party, Jibraj Ashrit were killed in the accident. The car’s driver Amar Lama survived the accident with minor injuries and was later murdered in Kathmandu, reportedly, by Maoist rebels.

The Accident


On the evening of 16 May 1993, Bhandari and Ashrit were travelling from Pokhara to Chitwan to attend a party meeting. Reportedly, it was raining when they reached Dashdhunga and their car plunged into the Trishuli River. Driver Amar Lama later said that he escaped from the window, but couldn’t save the leaders. Among the three passengers, the two leaders died. Bhandari’s dead body was found on the Narayani river bank after three days and Ashrit’s body was found inside the vehicle.

Investigation & Conspiracy Theories


Madan Bhandari and Jibraj Ashrit statues in Dashdhunga, Chitwan. Madan Bhandari and Jibraj Ashrit statues in Dashdhunga, Chitwan.

The Dashdhunga incident sent a shockwave throughout Nepal and is still a topic that people talk about and associate with many conspiracy theories.

A majority of Nepalis do not believe the Dashdhunga accident to be just a natural accident.  Many in Nepal believe that it was a political murder, carried out possibly by foreign powers where Nepali anti-Communists could have worked as accomplicess. The motive behind the murder is argued to be Madan Bhandari’s towering ideological impression as a Neo-Marxist in South Nepal.

Many probe and investigation committees were formed in the wake of the event, but they were unsuccessful in finding out the exact cause of the accident. Amor Lama,  the driver who survived the accident, too, was murdered after about 10 years of the accident and it further intensified the conspiracy theories.