The Meghalaya police on Monday indicated that the motive behind tourist Raja Raghuvanshi's murder could stem from the alleged affair of his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, with Raj Kushwaha. The police have arrested Kushwaha and three others for the murder of the Indore native, who had come to the northeastern state on honeymoon.
The police further said that Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly planned the murder and hired hitmen days after her wedding with Raja Raghuvanshi, surrendered before the UP police in Ghazipur.
Asked if there was a love affair between Kushwaha and Sonam Raghuvanshi, Vivek Syiem, superintendent of police, East Khasi Hills, said: “Once the team reaches there, they will arrest her and take transit remand... Yes, it appears so (Sonam had a boyfriend)... Two teams of Meghalaya Police are there in MP, and one team is going to UP to arrest Sonam... It is a fact that she called up her relatives, but all this happened after the raids were conducted. If you look at it logically, all these days she hadn't come out, but last night, when Raj Kushwaha and others were caught, suddenly she surfaced. That speaks for itself.”
He also named the other two people who were arrested by the police.
{{/usCountry}}He also named the other two people who were arrested by the police.
{{/usCountry}}"The first person arrested is a 19-year-old Akash Rajput, from Lalitpur. The second accused is Vishal Singh Chauhan, age 22 years, from Indore, and the third is Raj Singh Kushwaha, age 21 years, from Indore. Yesterday, Sonam Raghuvanshi was in Ghazipur. This afternoon, we arrested another accused from the Sagar District. One person has been detained in the Nandgarh police station... The third team is on its way to arrest Sonam Raghuvanshi... These people committed the crime on 23rd May and left soon after. At that time, we didn't know it was a murder; we were looking for them. We looked for missing reports, and nobody was found. The body was found only on 2 June, after which SIT was formed, and the investigation started," he told ANI.
He confirmed that Raj Kushwaha may have been complicit in planning the murder.
"If we connect the dots, a preliminary investigation will reveal how this whole motive and crime was carried out. It was Raj Kushwaha with Sonam. When they come here, we will finally be able to confirm... All these days, Sonam and others were underground, and yesterday, when our operation started, suddenly she surfaced," he added.
The fourth accused, Anand Kurmi, was also arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar.
“In connection with the case, the location of the fourth accused, Anand Kurmi, was traced to Basari village. He has since been taken into custody," a police officer told PTI.
Who is Raj Kushwaha?
Raja Raghuvanshi's brother, Vipul Raghuvanshi, told ANI that Raj Kushwaha was Sonam's employee.
"I had no idea about those 3-4 people till the time I did not know their names... Raj Kushwaha's name has come forward, which means Sonam can be involved in the murder... Raj Kushwaha was Sonam's employee. They would constantly talk on the phone," he said.