Blood-stained machete, 3 strangers with couple & guide's clue: How cops 'cracked' Meghalaya honeymoon murder
NEW DELHI: A tour guide from Meghalaya has informed police officials that Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, the honeymooning pair from Indore who went missing, were seen with three male companions on May 23 when they vanished from Sohra region.
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Raja's body was found days later in a deep gorge.
What the tourist guide said
A local tourist guide in Mawlakhiat, Albert Pde, reported seeing Raghuvanshi and his wife with three men on the day they disappeared.
He recalled that around 10 am on May 23, the couple was climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat accompanied by three men speaking Hindi, indicating they were not locals.
He said he recognized the couple because he had offered to guide them the previous day for the trek down to see the famous living root bridge in Nongriat, but they politely declined and hired a different guide.
Raghuvanshi's body was found near Weisawdong Falls on June 2. Notably, a gold ring and a neck chain were missing from the body.
The following day, investigators found a machete covered in blood in close proximity, and after two days, they located a raincoat in Mawkma village that matched the description of what the couple had worn. The raincoat was found midway between Sohrarim and the ravine where they had recovered Raghuvanshi's remains.
Wife hired assailants to murder husband: Meghalaya DGP
Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi was murdered during his honeymoon in Meghalaya by assailants hired by his wife, Meghalaya DGP I Nongrang confirmed on Monday morning.
Sonam surrendered to the police in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, while three other suspects were arrested in overnight raids.
Raghuvanshi and his wife went missing on May 23 while vacationing in Meghalaya's Sohra area. His body was found in a gorge on June 2.
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According to Nongrang, the arrested men confessed that Sonam had hired them to kill Raghuvanshi.
My daughter is innocent, She cannot kill her husband: Sonam's father
Earlier today, Devi Singh, the father of Sonam, strongly denied the allegations against his daughter and accused the Meghalaya police of fabricating the case.
"My daughter is innocent. I have trust in my daughter. She cannot do this (kill her husband). They got married with the consent of both families. The state (Meghalaya) government has been lying from the beginning. My daughter came to a dhaba in Ghazipur last night and she called her brother. Police went to the dhaba, and she was taken from there," Sonam Raghuvanshi's father, Devi Singh said,
"I have not been able to speak to my daughter. Why will my daughter do such a thing (kill her husband)? The Meghalaya Police is lying. My daughter reached Ghazipur on her own. She was not arrested in Meghalaya. We were thinking of meeting Madhya Pradesh CM and then Union HM Amit Shah to request a CBI inquiry. Meghalaya Police is making up stories. Let the CBI inquiry begin, all officers at the police station (in Meghalaya) will be behind bars.
" Singh added.
After their marriage on May 11, the couple left for Meghalaya on May 20 for their honeymoon.
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