Indore Couple Missing Case: How a rejected local guide helped Meghalaya Police catch the 'killer' wife Sonam Raghuvanshi
How Sonam Raghuvanshi was caught lying
From honeymoon to murder: a timeline of deadly conspiracy by wife Sonam Raghuvanshi
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Testimony from guide Albert Pde, who was turned down by the Indore couple, led police to uncover the Raja Raghuvanshi murder plot and arrest the wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, for hiring killers during their honeymoon. It was a chance encounter that turned a rejected guide into the key witness in a murder investigation. Albert Pde, a local guide in Meghalaya's Nongriat village, had offered his services to newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi on May 22. The couple declined, choosing another guide. The next day, Pde saw them again—this time, accompanied by three unknown men, climbing the 3,000 steps back to Mawlakhiat.'I saw the couple with three men on the way up. The men were walking ahead, and the woman was behind them. They were speaking in Hindi,' Albert later told the police. His statement would become central to the investigation, helping police track the suspects and eventually leading to the arrest of Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly hired the men to murder her husband during their honeymoon.Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi got married in Indore.The couple flew to Shillong for their honeymoon.They checked into Balaji Guest House in the evening.The couple rented a scooter, travelled to Sohra, and then to Mawlakhiat village. They trekked to Shipara Homestay in Nongriat with the help of a local guide. Albert Pde approached them that day but they declined his offer.The couple checked out of the homestay and started their return trek without a guide. Around 10 am, Albert saw them again, this time with three Hindi-speaking men. This was the last known sighting of Raja.Village head of Sohrarim reported an abandoned scooter to police. It was traced back to the couple.The search for the couple intensified but yielded no results.Police using drones found Raja's decomposed body in a gorge near Wei Sawdong Falls. A machete and mobile phone were found nearby. A blood-stained raincoat was recovered a few kilometres away.Police collected statements, including that of Albert Pde. CCTV footage showing the couple arriving at a homestay on May 22 also helped reconstruct the timeline.Albert said he spotted the couple with three men around 10 am on May 23 while they were climbing the steep steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat. He recognised them because he had approached them the previous day, offering to guide them to the living root bridge in Nongriat. However, they had declined his offer and chosen a different guide.He added that the three men with the couple were speaking in Hindi, suggesting they were not local residents.Meghalaya DGP I Nongrang confirmed that Sonam surrendered in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. Three men accused of carrying out the murder were arrested in overnight raids.
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Sonam Acted Tired, Walked Behind Husband, Then Yelled "Kill Him": Sources
Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly conspired to murder her husband, Raja, shortly after their wedding. Raja's wife and her lover hired three friends as contract killers to execute the plan. The murder took place during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, where the killers followed the couple. New Delhi: In a sinister murder case, all it took was five days, a meeting at a cafe, and a one-way honeymoon trip to Meghalaya to kill Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore-based businessman. The plan was allegedly hatched by his wife, Sonam, and her lover, Raj Kushwaha - who hired his three friends as 'contract killers'. Five days after Raja and Sonam got married, Raj called his childhood friends - Anand Kumri (23), Akash Rajput (19), and Vishal Singh Chauhan (22) - to a cafe in Madhya Pradesh's Indore to plan the killing of Raja. He lured them with money to commit the crime, sources said. On May 20, Raja and Sonam left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya, with a one-way ticket in hand and the three killers following them to the Northeast. Sources said that Raj sent his friends to Guwahati first on May 20, where they ordered an axe online. From there, they went to Shillong and stayed at a hotel near Sonam and Raja's homestay. The newly-wed couple, meanwhile, roamed around the breathtaking hills for three days. But on May 23, Sonam took Raja to a hilly area on the pretext of a photoshoot. The three accused also followed them and initially spoke to Raja in Hindi. Eventually, Sonam pretended to be tired and started walking much behind her husband and the killers. As the five people reached a deserted place, Sonam shouted "kill him" - to the killers, sources said. All this while, Sonam's lover Raj was not in the scene. He did not travel to Meghalaya, but Shillong Police sources suggest he did the planning behind the scenes and was in touch with Sonam. Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge beneath the Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang on June 2, ten days after the brutal crime. A machete, suspected to be the murder weapon, was also recovered. His preliminary autopsy report revealed that he was attacked twice - once each on the back and front of his head. Weeks later, the 24-year-old 'missing' wife was found in an unconscious state on Saturday night at a 'dhaba' in Ghazipur. She was taken to the Ghazipur Medical College for treatment, where she surrendered before the police, and was subsequently taken into custody. The three accused were also arrested in overnight raids.
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2 hours ago
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Albert Pde, the guide at Mawlakhiat told PTI, 'I am happy that the criminals are finally behind the bars.' 'We stand vindicated. Those who tried to tarnish the image of Sohra and its people as violent have now been exposed,' said a visibly relieved Pde. The couple went missing on May 23 before Raja's highly decomposed body with fatal head injuries was found on June 2 near Weisawdong falls following which the bloodstained machete and other items were also recovered. Sohra (Meghalaya), June 10 (PTI) A local tourist guide who alerted police about the presence of three unidentified men accompanying newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi on the day they went missing last month on Tuesday said he is satisfied that his information helped crack the case. Pde had said he saw the couple accompanied by three male tourists as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23. According to the guide, 'the four men, including Raja, were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men conversed in Hindi,' he said, admitting that he was not very conversant in the language. Pde had initially offered his services to walk them to Nongriat on May 22, but they politely refused and hired another guide identified as Bha Wansai, who dropped them at Shipara homestay. Police on Monday arrested Sonam, a 24-year-old woman from Indore, for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband Raja during their honeymoon in the scenic town of Sohra in Meghalaya. Raja was killed by men allegedly hired by Sonam, who went 'missing' and surfaced in UP's Ghazipur where she surrendered at the Nandganj police station after the arrest of three assailants — Akash Rajput (19), Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), and Raj Singh Kushwaha (21) — in overnight raids. The autopsy report of Raja Raghuvanshi indicated that he was hit twice with a sharp object on his head, officials at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) said. 'The autopsy report indicated there were two sharp cuts on the head of the deceased — one from behind and one from the front,' East Khasi Hills district SP Vivek Syiem told PTI, quoting the report. He said police have also seen the two cuts on his head too during the inquest. According to the officer, police have also registered a murder case under Sohra PS, after initial inquest. PTI JOP MNB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
