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5 chilling details in Raja Raghuvanshi's murder in Meghalaya: What police said about wife Sonam Raghuvanshi
Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi was killed during his honeymoon in Meghalaya, with his wife Sonam accused of plotting his murder with her boyfriend.
A honeymoon trip to Meghalaya turned into a full-blown murder mystery when an Indore-based businessman, Raja Raghuvanshi, was found dead days after he and his wife went missing. According to the Meghalaya Police, it was Raja’s wife, Sonam, who orchestrated the murder and allegedly conspired with her boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, to do so.
A total of five arrests have been made in the case, so far – Sonam Raghuvanshi and four men, including Raj Kushwaha, Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi. While Sonam was arrested from a dhaba in Uttar Pradesh during the early hours of Monday, three out of the four men were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, except Akash Rajput, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur.
It all started after Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi, who had got married on May 11, went for their honeymoon to Meghalaya. However, on May 23, the couple went missing, prompting a manhunt by local authorities. Days later, on June 2, Raja’s body was recovered in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
A week after the body was recovered, the Meghalaya Police reached a major breakthrough on Monday and made a series of arrests in the case. All the accused are being taken to Meghalaya for investigation.
Also read: Meghalaya honeymoon murder: Raj Kushwaha drove people to Raja Raghuvanshi's funeral, says eyewitness
Five chilling details of Raja Raghuvanshi murder case:
1. Tour guide saw the couple with three men
It was a local guide in Meghalaya who possibly helped crack the case by giving a major clue to the police. Albert Pde told police on Monday, June 7, that the couple – Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi – were accompanied by three male tourists on the day they went missing from Meghalaya's Sohra area on May 23. Pde said the three men accompanied the couple as they were climbing up over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10am on May 23, and added that Raja was talking to the men in Hindi.
"The four men were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men were conversing in Hindi, but I could not understand what they were speaking as I know only Khasi and English," Pde told PTI.
Also read: What Raj Kushwaha's distraught mother said on Sonam Raghuvanshi affair charge
2. Machete found
A day after Raja Raghuvanshi's body was found on June 2, the police made another discovery which acted as a major clue into the murder - a bloodstained machete. A raincoat was also recovered two days later, which looked similar to the one used by the couple. The raincoat was found in Mawkma village, which is halfway between Sohrarim and the gorge where Raghuvanshi’s body was found.
According to a Meghalaya Police officer, “It was not a machete used in the region. It led to our suspicion that someone from outside the region was involved. We decided to check the call details of the couple.”
The police also revealed on Monday that two sharp cut wounds have been found on the front and back of Raja’s head, as revealed in his autopsy. The police suspect that the wounds were inflicted by the same machete.
Also read: Meghalaya murder: How a couple’s first trip to the hills set the stage for a killing
3. One of the accused is Sonam’s alleged boyfriend
According to the police, one of the accused who has been arrested, Raj Kushwaha, is allegedly Sonam’s boyfriend and conspired with her to commit the crime.
According to an Indore police officer who is aware of the investigation, “Kushwaha was in contact with the killers for some weeks.” The three killers hired for the murder left for Meghalaya on May 17 and carried a phone provided by Kushwaha, according to the cop.
Also, Sonam’s call records indicate that she was in touch with Kushwaha while on the honeymoon and shared her last location with him before the couple went missing, according to a Meghalaya Police officer.
4. Raj Kushwaha was driving people to Raja’s funeral
Sonam’s alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha reportedly drove a vehicle to transport people to Raja Raghuvanshi's funeral, said an eyewitness.
Lakshman Singh Rathore, a man who attended Raja’s funeral, told PTI that it was Raj Kushwaha who drove the vehicle arranged by Sonam’s family.
"When Raja's body arrived here, Sonam's family, whose home is in Govind Nagar Kharcha area, had arranged four-five vehicles for people to attend the funeral. Kushwaha was driving the four-wheeler in which I went, though we did not talk. Only after seeing his photograph in the media post his arrest, I recollected this episode,” PTI quoted him as saying.
5. No return tickets
According to Raja’s mother Uma Raghuvanshi, it was Sonam who insisted on the honeymoon. Sonam also allegedly took ₹9 lakh from Raja for the honeymoon and also carried some jewellery, said the mother.
When Uma asked her son when they were planning on returning, Raja told her that they had not booked return tickets yet and added that they might return within a week.
