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Meghalaya murder: Family of Indore man found dead on his honeymoon writes to PM, demands CBI probe

Raja's brother Vipul Raghuvanshi said that the family had submitted the letter demanding a CBI probe at the commissioner's office.

Updated on: Jun 6, 2025, 12:53:44 IST
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Days after his body was found in a gorge in Meghalaya's Cherrapunji, Raja Raghuvanshi's family has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a CBI investigation into his murder.

Raja's body was found on June 2 in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area of East Khasi Hills district. (Sourced)
Raja's body was found on June 2 in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area of East Khasi Hills district. (Sourced)

Raja – a transport businessman – and his wife Sonam, who were on their honeymoon, went missing on May 23. Their last conversation with members from their family took place in the afternoon. Their phones were switched off by evening on the same day.

The couple were staying at a guest house in Nongriat village, according to officials. Raja's body was found on June 2 – more than a week after the couple went missing – in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area of East Khasi Hills district.

Sonam remains missing, with search operations to trace her continuing. Apart from the Meghalaya police, teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, fire and emergency services as well as dog squads are involved in the search.

Raja's brother Vipul Raghuvanshi said that the family had submitted the letter demanding a CBI probe at the commissioner's office. He urged both the Prime Minister and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to support their demand, as per ANI.

“It could bring justice to Raja and make finding Sonam easier,” Vipul said, while adding that the Meghalaya police would not bring justice to his brother.

The police, over the course of the investigation, have recovered several items which might have belonged to the couple during search operations. On Thursday, a black raincoat, which appears to have a stain, was found by rescuers. The cops had also found a smashed mobile phone and a machete, which could have been the murder weapon, near the spot where Raja's body was recovered.

‘Unfortunate’: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma condoles incident

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma extended his condolences to the family of the deceased, while assuring that all necessary steps would be taken to identify those behind the incident.

“I extend my condolences to the family and I would like to tell the family members that it is a very important case for us. We will take all the necessary steps to probe and to arrest those behind this incident,” Sangma said, according to ANI.

“One person has been murdered and another is missing,” he said, while calling the incident “unfortunate” and “very sad”. While stating that such an incident had never taken place in the state before, Sangma said that the Meghalaya government and the police were probing the matter “on every level”.

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