"Operation Honeymoon" Spreads Beyond Meghalaya Border, Focus On Guwahati
Guwahati:
The operation -- code named Operation Honeymoon -- to unearth the missing links of the horrific "Honeymoon murder" continues with the Meghalaya police likely to raid more areas outside the state where the digital footprints of the accused are to be found. Sources in the Special Investigation Team said the idea is to find missing links in this case.
Today, Meghalaya police with help of colleagues in Assam, raided a lodge in Pan Bazar locality of Guwahati, where the three alleged contract killers had stayed for a night while on their way to Shillong to kill Raja Raghuvanshi.
According to Guwahati police sources, the three suspects had arrived at Ananda Lodge of Pan Bazar around 8.30 pm on May 19. The Meghalaya police searched the room they stayed in and recorded the statements of the lodge manager and staff who claimed the behaviour of the three was like any other boarders and they did not find anything suspicious.
The men had supplied their Aadhar card as identity record at the lodge, police sources added.
The men claimed they were students from Indore and were visiting Assam and other parts of northeast. They checked out early on next day - around 5:30 am, sources said.
Meghalaya SIT feels that on May 20, the men had tailed the couple at Guwahati's Kamakhya Temple.
The SIT had also found out that the men had bought the murder weapon- a new machete - from a flea market in Guwahati, like Fancy Bazar or Paltan Bazar area, not far from the lodge they stayed.
Guwahati police sources added that the Meghalaya SIT is also analyzing CCTV footage of certain areas of the city where they found digital footprints of the accused. Search is on for the vendor from whom the machete was purchased.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Nolta's murder: One arrested, mastermind still at large
1 2 Panchkula: In a chilling twist to a crime that has shaken the quiet town of Pinjore, police have arrested one of the key suspects in the brutal murder of national kabaddi player Sonu Nolta, even as the alleged mastermind, Piyush Piplani, remains on the run. The arrest came a week after Nolta was gunned down outside Amravati Mall on June 5, a night that turned deadly when four men allegedly ambushed him in a calculated act of violence. The motive? A sinister bid to assert dominance in the area, police claimed. The breakthrough came Wednesday evening when police nabbed Sameer Khan, a resident of Saini Mohalla, who had been living under the radar. His arrest followed the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 10, led by ACP (crime) Arvind Kamboj. Investigators believe Sameer was drawn into a deadly alliance with Piplani and another local, Ankush Solanki. Together, they allegedly plotted Nolta's murder, conducting a recce in a car before executing their plan. On the fateful night, as Nolta arrived at the mall to watch a movie, the assailants struck. Gunfire erupted, leaving Nolta fatally wounded and his cousin, Nitin alias Prince Rana, injured. In a brazen move, the suspects uploaded a video of the attack on social media — an act that would become their undoing. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indian Stewardess Makes Headlines Worldwide medalmerit Learn More Undo Police traced the video's IP address within hours. Ironically, during their escape, Piplani reportedly shot himself in the hand by accident. The group abandoned their vehicle at PGI Chandigarh the next day, where police later recovered a spent cartridge — vital forensic evidence. With Piplani still at large, police have launched an aggressive manhunt. Eight special teams are scouring hideouts across Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Mohali. Investigators are leaving no stone unturned — tracking digital footprints, analyzing call records, and interrogating friends and family. DCP (crime) Amit Dahiya confirmed that past criminal records of the suspects are under scrutiny, and forensic experts are working to build an airtight case. On Thursday, Sameer was remanded to five days in police custody. During the court hearing, Nitin Rana, still recovering from his injuries, identified Sameer as one of the shooters. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
NDTV
6 hours ago
- NDTV
"Sonam Raghuvanshi Used Burqa To Escape, Was In Indore When Raja's Body Was Found": Cop
All five accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi honeymoon killing - wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, her lover Kushwaha and three alleged hitmen Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi - have admitted to their crime, said the police on Friday. The Meghalaya Police would take all five accused in the case to the crime spot at Sohra-Cherrapunji areas of the East Khasi Hills district next week for reconstruction of the crime, officials said. The newly-wed couple - Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi - from Madhya Pradesh's Indore went missing from a village near Sohra (Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district on May 23, two days after they landed in the northeastern state on their honeymoon. They were married on May 11. The man's body was retrieved from a 200-foot deep gorge on June 2. Wife Sonam, said police, surrendered at a police station in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Monday. "The murder was planned right before Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam's wedding. Raj Kushwaha is the mastermind behind this and Sonam is his partner in crime. The three killers were Raj's friends, and one among them is his cousin," Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, Syiem Vivek, who is overseeing the investigation, told NDTV. "Since February this year, the planning was going on about how to make Sonam disappear. Two ideas were under consideration to make her disappear: first, Sonam should be shown jumping into the river; second, someone should be murdered and the body should be burnt presented as Sonam's. But the accused could not implement these plans. The plan to murder Raja was made 11 days before his marriage," said the officer. Sonam Raghuvanshi, 24, was in love with Raj Kushwaha, 21, and had warned her family of "consequences" if she was pressured to marry Raja Raghuvanshi, police sources said. As per the preliminary autopsy report, Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, was hit twice, once each on the back and front of his head. "This is not a contract killing, however, an investigation regarding the same is underway. Raj had paid the three hitmen Rs 50,000 each," said the police officer. Raja Raghuvanshi was told by his wife Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, investigators had said on Wednesday. "When Sonam and Raja reached Guwahati to visit Kamakhya after marriage, the killers had already reached Guwahati on 19 May. Their initial plan was to kill Raja in Guwahati itself. But Sonam had planned to go to Shillong and Sohra. Therefore, this plan was shelved," said the officer. "After that, they reached Nongriat. Thereafter, all of them attacked Raja and killed him and hid his body. They left soon after," said the officer. After this, the officer said, Sonam wore a burqa offered by one of the hitmen and reached Guwahati in a taxi. "Then from Guwahati she took a bus and went to Siliguri, from Siliguri she went to Patna, from Patna she took a bus to Ara, from Ara she took a train to Lucknow, from Lucknow she took a bus to Indore," said the officer, detailing her movements after the murder. "After the three hitmen were arrested, Sonam was told by Raj to leave Indore and tell her family that she was kidnapped," said the officer. The day Raja's body was found, on June 2, Sonam was in Indore, said the officer. Sonam was in Indore from June 25 to 8, the officer said. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Meghalaya police is probing the sensational murder.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
Honeymoon turns horror: How Sonam plotted husband Raja's murder in Meghalaya
/ Jun 12, 2025, 04:05PM IST A honeymoon in Meghalaya ended in a gruesome murder as Raja Raghuvanshi, a newly married man from Indore, was hacked to death in a remote forest area—allegedly on the orders of his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi. Police claim the killing was premeditated and executed with the help of Sonam's lover and three hired said Sonam initially claimed they were attacked by robbers, but inconsistencies in her account and digital evidence led to further scrutiny. She later confessed during interrogation, with police saying she gave Rs 50,000 to Raj to fund travel and track their movements. Sonam has now been identified as the prime conspirator in what police call a calculated and cold-blooded murder.
