Father Thomas E. Gafney, 64, an American born Nepali was murdered. Gafney’s throat was slit half-way by Khukuri at his apartment in Dhobighat. A Christian priest Gafney came here as an educationist in 1959 and later turned into active anti-drugs campaigner. Gafney’s murder is linked with his involvement in anti-drugs campaign. He has also been involved in establishing various charities to rehabilitate drug abusers.
Monk Nabatame was killed in Lumbini in 1997, just 2 days before Lumbini was decleared World's Heritage site. Report given by Dawa Tamang, who was stabbed by one of the
masked men, revealed that the man spoke fluent Nepali. There are fears that the murder may be
the work of religious fundamentalists who are opposed to Buddhism. A heinous crime was committed in a sacred
Buddhist site. It was not a robbery. The perpetrators knew exactly what had
to be accomplished that night: the Buddhist monk was to be killed. The
crime was well-planned, and professionally executed.
In 1974 Min Bahadur Gurung of Pokhara requested Fuji Guruji's help in
building a World Peace Pagoda in Pokhara. Construction of the pagoda went
smoothly until one night in 1975, when the Nepali military marched into
Pokhara and demolished the structure, which was already near completion.
The Japanese monk who was in charge of the project, Reverend Marioka (a
friend of Reverend Nabatame) was nearly killed in the process.