Bhopal: A week after their marriage on May 11, Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly plotted murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi with her lover Raj Kushwaha with a plan they thought was fool-proof, police said on Monday, hours after Sonam surrendered in Uttar Pradesh’s Gazipur following arrest of three hired killers.
Indore’s additional deputy police commissioner, Rajesh Dandotiya, said Sonam and her boyfriend Raj decided that they needed to kill her husband if they wanted to live together.
Raj allegedly hired Vishal Chauhan alias Vikki, Anand Kurmi and Akash Thakur to kill Raja. “The plan was to kill Raja in a distant place, dump his body somewhere where it would not be found and then live happily,” he said.
The police officer said that Sonam told her husband that they can go to Meghalaya for their honeymoon on May 19 and they left a day later. They went missing while vacationing in Sohra area in East Khasi Hills district on May 23. Raja’s body was found in a gorge on June 2.
Their plan had a vital flaw. According to Meghalaya police, the first clue they got was the machete used to kill Raja.
{{/usCountry}}Their plan had a vital flaw. According to Meghalaya police, the first clue they got was the machete used to kill Raja.
{{/usCountry}}“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. We found she had spoken to one of the killers a few days before the murder and his last location was with her before they disappeared,” a Meghalaya police investigating officer said.
According to police, Sonam was traced to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. On Sunday night, a Meghalaya Police team arrived in Indore and arrested Raj and Vishal on Sunday night while Akash was caught from his village in UP’s Lalitpur district. On Monday, the third killer Anand Kurmi was caught from Bina, Sagar.
Indore police officials said that Sonam, 25, had met Raj, 21, who used to work as an assistant in her brother’s plywood manufacturing factory, about two years ago. It was there they had started a relationship.
“Raj shifted closer to their home sometime later,” an Indore police officer said. However, about a year ago Sonam’s family learnt about their relationship and opposed it. “It was then Raj shifted from that locality and Sonam’s family started looking for a boy to marry her,” the officer said.
In October 2024, Sonam’s family arranged her meeting with Raja Raghuvanshi and thereafter fixed their marriage.
After Sonam’s arrest, Raja’s mother Uma Raghuvanshi said, “Raja had some issues after engagement as she was not speaking to him. I spoke to Sonam and she told me that she was busy with work in the factory and said that Raja can call her. After that they started speaking to each other. We were planning for the marriage next year but Sonam’s father insisted on an early marriage,” she said.
Uma claimed that Sonam planned for their honeymoon and took ₹9 lakhs from Raja to book tickets and hotels.
“My son told me that Sonam was insisting on a honeymoon. He told me that she had not booked return tickets and they would come back in six to seven days. She even insisted on taking all the jewellery with them on the honeymoon. Raja’s phone had been switched off since May 23 and Sonam talked last time on May 24 to me,” said the mother, who demanded capital punishment for Sonam and other accused.
Her son and elder brother of Raja, Vipin Raghuvanshi said, “Sonam and her brother Govind used to talk with Raj regularly which we treated as a regular business talk. Now, I can say that she might be involved in the murder.”
Sonam’s father, Devi Singh, expressed disbelief over his daughter’s alleged involvement in the murder. “My daughter cannot kill anyone. I do not trust the Meghalaya Police. I still demand a CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] inquiry into the matter.” He added that if she has really got him killed, she should be hanged.