Raja Raghuvanshi murder: Meghalaya Police reveals 5 chilling details including failed first attempt
The Meghalaya Police's Special Investigation Team is probing the murder of businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who was killed during his honeymoon.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Meghalaya Police, which is investigating the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, has travelled to Indore to explore whether a financial angle was involved in the crime.
As part of the probe, the Meghalaya Police also brought all the accused — including Raja Raghuvanshi’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi — to Sohra, about 65 km from Shillong, where they recreated the crime scene under tight security, Hindustan Times earlier reported.
Raja Raghuvanshi was hacked to death in a parking lot near Weisawdong Falls and his body was dumped in a nearby gorge in Sohra area in East Khasi Hills district on May 23.
Raja and his wife, Sonam, were on their honeymoon when he was killed allegedly by three hitmen – Vishal, Anand and Akash - sent by her boyfriend Raj Kushwaha, who is also one of the arrested people.
Although Raj Kushwaha is the mastermind of the murder, he did not come to Meghalaya.
There were chilling details of the murder that emerged after the recreation of the crime scene, in which one policeman acted as Raja Raghuvanshi.
Here are 5 fresh details on Raja Raghuvanshi murder:
- Failed first murder attempt: The reconstruction began from the Mawlakhiat parking lot where they had kept their scooters. Police found that there was an attempt to kill Raja Raghuvanshi nearly 3-4 km away from the Wei Sawdong parking lot, but that didn’t materialise as the victim started his scooter to leave the place. “Finally, they reached the Wei Sawdong parking lot where they kept their scooters and made an ingress into the viewpoint (of the falls)," Vivek Syiem, police superintendent of East Khasi Hills district, where the murder took place, told journalists at the scene of the crime.
- Brutal sequence of blows: Raja received three blows. The first one was made by Vishal from the back while Sonam was in front of him. It was a major blow in which the accused used both hands. Then Anand made the second hit, and the last blow was by Akash, Vivek Syiem said.
- Murder weapons: The accused also informed the SIT that they used two machetes, one of which was recovered. The police personnel are combing the forest below the gorge with a metal detector to find out the second machete.
- Not a death by fall: Raja was taken by surprise, and he died because of the blows, Syiem said. He also dismissed reports that the fall into the gorge caused his death. After the first blow on the head when blood came out and Raja started screaming, Sonam moved away from the spot. And when Raja was dead, the three alleged killers lifted the body and threw it down into the gorge.
- Sonam’s demeanour: The police officer said, at the crime scene re-enactment, Sonam expressed regret like any other criminal, but he is yet to ascertain if there was remorse.
(With inputs from Utpal Parashar in Guwahati)
