Police cracked the murder case of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, killed during his honeymoon in Meghalaya. A mangalsutra and ring left behind by his wife, Sonam, raised suspicion.
NEW DELHI: A mangalsutra and a ring left behind in a suitcase proved to be the first vital clue that helped police crack the sensational murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who was killed during his honeymoon in Meghalaya last month, Meghalaya DGP I Nongrang said on Wednesday. Raja (29) and his wife Sonam (25) had arrived in Meghalaya via Guwahati on May 20, just days after their May 11 wedding in Indore. On May 23, the couple vanished from Sohra (Cherrapunji) in East Khasi Hills after checking out of a homestay in Nongriat village. “We recovered Sonam’s mangalsutra and a ring from the suitcase they left behind at a homestay in Sohra. A married woman leaving behind such symbols of marriage raised our suspicion and gave us a reason to pursue her as a suspect,” DGP Nongrang told PTI.
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Raja’s decomposed body was found in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2. Police launched a multi-state chase for Sonam, who eventually surfaced on June 9 — over 1,200km away — in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, where she surrendered before police. Police have also arrested Sonam’s alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha and three contract killers. All five have been remanded to eight days of police custody by a court in Shillong. According to a police officer involved in the probe, the couple had walked into the Sohra homestay on May 22 without any prior booking. Since they didn’t get a room and had plans to trek over 3,000 steps to Nongriat village to see the famed double-decker root bridge, they left their suitcase at the homestay and spent the night at another homestay in Nongriat. The next morning, they trekked back to Sohra, picked up their scooter and rode to Weisawdong Falls — the site where Raja was allegedly killed by three contract killers, reportedly in front of Sonam. Earlier, PTI had reported that a local tour guide had spotted the couple with three Hindi-speaking men on the trail back to Sohra, a detail that later turned out to be crucial in identifying the accused. “The accused have admitted to the crime. With all the evidence gathered, there is little room for denial,” a senior police officer said.