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Meghalaya murder case: Sonam used my phone to dial her brother, says dhaba owner in UP’s Ghazipur
When he asked her how she reached the dhaba, Sonam said she walked several kilometers to arrive at the eatery from a location along the road where she was dropped at night, according to the dhaba owner
Only a few people were present at the Kashi Dhaba when Sonam Raghuvanshi emerged in the stillness of the night and reached the eatery in Ghazipur around 1am on Monday, approaching four men seated around a table for help but faced refusal.
Some of those at the dhaba were sipping tea, others yawning, recalled dhaba owner Sahil Yadav, who is in his mid-20s.
“As they refused, the woman directly came to me and asked me for my mobile phone, saying ‘bhaiya, please help me, give me your mobile, I have to talk to my family’. Then I gave her my phone. She dialed her brother’s number and started crying,” said Sahil.
“Thereafter, I spoke to her family member (brother) and gave him the address of my dhaba,” said Sahil.
The eatery is situated on Varanasi-Gorakhpur Highway in Ghazipur.
“The woman said she was married in May this year. Thereafter, she along with her husband went to Meghalaya for their honeymoon where an attempt was made to rob her of her ornaments... she then fainted,” Sahil said.
When he asked her how she reached the dhaba, Sonam said she walked several kilometers to arrive at the eatery from a location along the road where she was dropped at night, according to Sahil.
When he asked who dropped her, at first she didn’t say anything... then when asked again, she said she had no idea, she didn’t know anything, Sahil recalled.
“She looked distraught. I helped her on humanitarian grounds,” said Sahil who informed police about the woman.
A police team from the Nandganj police station in Ghazipur reached Kashi Dhaba at around 3am, and took her to a hospital.
POLICE CHECKING CCTV FOOTAGE
Police teams are checking footage from CCTV cameras installed at the toll plaza at Kaithi in Varanasi’s Chaubepur and those at dhabas (eateries) to find out which vehicle dropped Sonam Raghuvanshi a few kilometres from the eatery on the Varanasi-Gorakhpur road early on Monday, police officials familiar with the development said.
A senior police officer said a joint team of Varanasi and Ghazipur police are examining the footage.
The police suspected that Sonam reached the dhaba at Nandganj via Varanasi. The teams are looking into the question: Did two youths on a bike drop her off or did she reach the dhaba in a truck or some other vehicle?
For this, police teams are busy checking the CCTV cameras of nearby dhabas besides Kaithi toll plaza, added the police officer.
