Meghalaya murder: Who is Jitendra Raghuvanshi? New twist in Raja Raghuvanshi case unfolds

Sonam Raghuvanshi's brother Govind said Jitendra was their maternal cousin and a junior employee at their family business.

As the investigation into the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case intensifies, with new revelations being made almost every day, a new name has emerged – Jitendra Raghuvanshi, giving the case a completely new direction.

Raja Raghuvanshi, his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha.

The Meghalaya Police has, so far, made five arrests in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case - his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha and three men identified as Vishal Chauhan, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi. All five accused have been taken to Meghalaya and were remanded to an eight-day police custody on Wednesday.

Who is Jitendra Raghuvanshi?

Jitendra Raghuvanshi is the person whose account was allegedly used by Sonam Raghuvanshi to make initial payments on May 23 to the hitmen hired to kill Raja Raghuvanshi.

When asked about who Jitendra Raghuvanshi was, Sonam’s brother Govind told the media on Wednesday he was his cousin. Govind added that Sonam’s UPI account was opened in Jitendra’s name. However, he did not explain why it was not opened under her name, Hindustan Times reported earlier.

After Jitendra’s name cropped up in the investigation, it reportedly raised suspicions that Sonam made the transactions through hawala route and her family’s business came under scanner for alleged hawala links.

However, Govind rejected the claims and said Jitendra was also a junior employee at their family business, and his account had their money which was used to make regular transactions, reported The New Indian Express.

“We don’t have to do anything with hawala. False stories are being cooked up. The man Jitendra Raghuvanshi, whose name is cropping up, is my maternal cousin as well as a junior employee in our family business, who looks after loading and unloading in the godown. The account in his name actually has that money of ours which is spent on taking care of the day-to-day expenditure of the business,” Govind was quoted as saying.

Sonam’s brother extends support to Raja Raghuvanshi’s family

Govind visited Sonam's in-laws in Indore on Tuesday and consoled the grieving family. He also apologised for his sister’s alleged involvement in the killing of Raja.

Govind added that he believed Sonam was behind the murder. “I met Sonam in Ghazipur for just two minutes and questioned her intensely. Her reactions were enough to make me realise she had committed the crime,” he said.

Govind also said his family has cut all ties with Sonam and vowed to help Raja Raghuvanshi’s family in their fight for justice.