Meghalaya honeymoon murder: When Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam went missing after they went on their honeymoon to Meghalaya, people started guessing about what could have possibly gone wrong. Some even said that his wife was abducted to Bangladesh. However, everything fell into place after police arrested his wife from Kashi dhaba in UP on June 9, days after she went missing.
But how did Sonam become prime suspect?
Sonam and Raja, who got married in Indore on May 11 and went to the northeastern state for their honeymoon. They walked into a homestay in Sohra on May 22 but didn’t get a room there because they did not make prior reservations. They then decided to keep the suitcase at the homestay before trekking to Nongriat village to see the famous “living roots” bridge.
They spend the night in Nongriat and check out the next morning. They trekked back to Sohra, took their scooter from the parking and went to Weisawdong Falls. They abandoned the scooter there and lost touch with family members.
According to police, Raja was killed here by three hitmen hired by his wife. His body was found in a gorge. Although his body started decomposing, a tattoo on his hand helped confirm his identity. He was hit twice on the head with a sharp weapon, the post-mortem revealed.
But the suitcase was at the homestay in Sohra. It had a mangalsutra and a ring. The police then pursued Sonam as a prime suspect, and it helped them crack the case.
“We recovered Sonam’s ‘mangalsutra’ and a ring from the suitcase the couple abandoned at a homestay in Sohra. A married woman leaving behind the ornaments gave us a clue to pursue her as a suspect in the case,” DGP I Nongrang told PTI.
But Sonam was still missing. On June 4, days before Sonam’s arrest, police found a woman’s white shirt, a strip of medicine, a damaged mobile phone screen, and a smartwatch. Police treated it as a homicide and officially registered a case.
Tour guide’s statement
A tour guide told police that he saw the couple with three Hindi-speaking men on their way back to Sohra from Nongriat. The guide was able to recognise them as he had offered to take them to Nongriat the previous day, which the couple declined. Instead, the couple hired another guide named Bha Wansai, and stayed at Shipara Homestay, and returned the next day without a guide.
“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,” the guide told police.
Murder weapon was another big hint
The weapon, which was used in Raja’s murder, hinted at the involvement of the outsiders. “This type of machete is not commonly used in the region, which made us suspect the involvement of someone from outside the area. We then decided to investigate the couple’s call records,” an official said.
Dhaba owner’s call to police
Sonam was arrested from ‘Kashi Dhaba’ on the Varanasi-Ghazipur road after she asked the dhaba employee for his phone to make a phone call to her parents in Indore.
“Last night around 1 am, Sonam was walking on the road and came to me asking for help. She asked for a mobile phone. When I asked what happened, she said her phone had been stolen, and it was urgent. She gave me a number, and I called for her. She spoke to her family,” Yadav said.
He added, “She was crying so hard that she could barely speak. She asked for water, and I gave her the water. Since she couldn’t talk properly, I spoke to them as well. They requested that I contact the nearest police station to ensure her safety.”
According to Yadav, Sonam told him that she got married in May and had gone to Meghalaya for her honeymoon, where Raja was killed while trying to protect her from a group of men who attempted to snatch her jewellery.
Sonam and her boyfriend’s confession
Sonam and her boyfriend have now confessed to their crime. Raj and Sonam, with the help of hitmen, brutally killed Raja and threw his body in a gorge. They, along with the contract killers, have been sent to eight-day police custody after they were brought to Shillong.
Akash Rajput (19) was arrested in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, while Vishal Singh Chauhan (22) and Raj Singh Kushwaha (21) were taken into custody from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Another accused, Anand Kurmi (23), was arrested from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district.
“The accused persons have admitted to the crime, and with all the evidence, there is no room to deny,” DGP added.