Meghalaya Honeymoon Murder: What We Know So Far
New Delhi:
In a shocking turn of events, Sonam Raghuvanshi, wife of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, whose body was found in deep gorge in Meghalaya during their honeymoon has been arrested for his murder.
According to police, the victim's wife had an affair with Raj Kushwaha, that allegedly drove her to hire contract killers to eliminate her husband. He too was arrested.
According to Raja Raghuvanshi's brother, Raj Kushwaha was Sonam's employee, and they would speak on the phone a lot.
Here's what we know so far about this case:
Raja Raghuvanshi and his newly married wife Sonam left for their honeymoon to Meghalaya on May 20.
They were reported missing on May 23 and a scooter they had rented was found abandoned at Sohrarim.
10 days later, on June 2, the man's body was found dead in a deep gorge. The search was on for his missing wife.
On June 7, police confirmed three arrests in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Yesterday (June 8), Sonam was found at a dhaba in Ghazipur and was swooped away by the cops.
Uttar Pradesh police claimed they found Sonam distraught and unwell at a dhaba in Nandganj, while Meghalaya cops asserted she "voluntarily surrendered" at the police station.
Sonam's family came out in her support and outright denied that she could murder her husband.
Raja Raghuvanshi's family has demanded justice after the victim's wife surrendered to killing him. Raja's brother, Sachin, said that Sonam being found alive raises many questions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
35 minutes ago
- News18
News18 Evening Digest: Meghalaya Honeymoon Murder, Jaishankar On Ceasefire & Other Top Stories
Last Updated: We are also covering: Rajnath Singh Objects To Pakistan's Role At UNSC Anti-Terror Panel, Mamata's Message On Op Sindoor In Bengal Assembly, and more stories In today's News18 afternoon digest, we bring you the latest update on Raja Raghuvanshi's murder in Meghalaya, Jaishankar's real reason for the India-Pakistan ceasefire, and other top stories. The disappearance of a couple on honeymoon, husband's body in a ditch and wife's surrender – the mystery over the 'disappearance" of Indore's Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi ended on June 9. But then emerged the new angle – the suspected lover, Raj Kushwaha, who materialised his wife's alleged plan to eliminate the husband. READ MORE Meghalaya Honeymoon Murder: The pregnancy test of Sonam Raghuvanshi, the main accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, was 'inconclusive", and doctors have recommended an ultrasound after a week. The test was part of a detailed medical examination conducted on Monday by a team of three female doctors who assessed her physical and mental condition. READ MORE West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday questioned why none of the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack had been captured. She suggested that the military standoff with Pakistan had been an 'opportunity to take control of PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir)". READ MORE External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has provided a candid revelation about the real reason behind the India-Pakistan ceasefire on May 10, saying, 'Fighting stopped on the 10th for one reason and one reason only, which was that on the 10th morning we hit these eight Pakistani, the main eight Pakistani airfields and disabled them". READ MORE Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) decision to appoint Pakistan as the vice-chair of its anti-terror panel was like 'asking the cat to protect the milk." READ MORE Kunal Kapoor Shooting For Ramayana? His New PICS Spark Buzz: 'He Does Look Like Indra Dev' There's massive excitement for Nitesh Tiwari's 'Ramayana', which will be released in two parts in 2026 and 2027, respectively. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol and others. Kunal Kapoor plays Lord Indra in the highly-anticipated film, and his recent pictures have left fans speculating whether he is currently shooting for the film. Fans couldn't stop gushing over his sharp jawline, with many sharing the opinion that he's absolutely perfect to play Indra Dev. READ MORE First Published: June 10, 2025, 18:03 IST
News18
35 minutes ago
- News18
Sonam Planned To Pass Off Raja's Murder As Robbery Gone Wrong, A Lie Became Her Undoing
Last Updated: Prime accused in her husband's murder case, Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly planned to live as a widow for a while before trying to convince her family to let her marry Raj Kushwaha With her husband Raja Raghuvanshi out of the way, Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly planned to live as a widow for a while before trying to convince her family to let her marry Raj Kushwaha. Now, Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha are in custody and the prime accused in the horrific murder case of Raja Raghuvanshi, who never returned from his honeymoon trip to Meghalaya. His wife, who allegedly wanted to stage his murder as a robbery gone wrong, was caught in a lie – the undoing of best-laid plans, in this case a bone-chilling murder plot. The alleged plan started unravelling soon after the police got hold of the first clue – a phone call by Sonam to her mother-in-law Uma Raghuvanshi. The special investigation team (SIT) probing the murder got access to an audio call between the two women, in which the accused informed the other woman about a fasting for Raja's good health. Later, when the investigators tracked the owner of the hotel where the couple was staying, they found that this was, in fact, a lie as she had eaten a meal that day. According to a report published by The Indian Express, the SIT grew suspicious and decided to mount technical surveillance on her. This led to the discovery that she was in constant touch with Kushwaha, police said. 'We found that she had consumed food. We also found that she was in touch with the main accused, Raj Kushwaha. The plan was to pass this off as a robbery gone wrong," Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, Vivek Syiem told The Indian Express. Raja and Sonam, both residents of Indore, had gone missing during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. Raja's body was later found in a gorge in Sohra in the East Khasi Hills district on June 2. Late on Sunday (June 9), Sonam surrendered before the police in Ghazipur district, while four accused, including Kushwaha, were arrested from different areas of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Investigators said Sonam left her home with jewellery and also asked her husband to wear gold to pass this off as a robbery gone wrong. Raja's mother told reporters that her son was wearing gold worth more than Rs 10 lakh, on a request from his wife. 'This is what our investigation has found. The couple had not booked return flight tickets. They had initially made plans to visit a temple in Guwahati. Then they chose to visit Meghalaya, and this very spot must have been chosen to commit the crime since a tourist recently went missing here and his body was found in the gorge after he suffered a fall. We are still investigating why the Meghalaya trip was planned," Syiem was quoted. First Published: June 10, 2025, 18:02 IST
NDTV
37 minutes ago
- NDTV
NDTV Ground Report: The Spot Where Raja Raghuvanshi Was Thrown Into Gorge
New Delhi: Three men, and possibly a woman, stood overlooking a steep gorge near the Wei Sawdong Falls in Meghalaya 's East Khasi Hills on the afternoon of May 23. They were not admiring the view, though it is spectacular. They had just murdered Raja Raghuvanshi and were dumping his body. Raghuvanshi, 30, was found at the bottom of that gorge on June 2, his body hacked into and his death the result, the police believe, of a nefarious scheme allegedly hatched by his wife (of less than a fortnight) Sonam Raghuvanshi and her lover, Raj Kushwaha, with help from three 'contract killers'. All five - details of whose plotting include a clandestine meet at a cafe, one-way tickets to Meghalaya, and the purchase of an axe (the murder weapon) online - have been arrested. NDTV visited the waterfall viewpoint to understand what transpired at 'Land's End', such as it was for Raja Raghuvanshi, and was given a firsthand lesson in why recovering the Madhya Pradesh-based businessman's body was so difficult, even when the cops knew where to look. Thirty seconds was all Nature needed to cover the gorge in mist, making it impossible to see into the valley or across it, to the mountains on the other side, and rising to cover even the cliff edge. In fact, were it not for a waist-high metal barrier around the edge, unwary souls might take a step too far off the cliff and plummet to a rocky doom, falling maybe a thousand feet. The deep gorge, changeable weather, and the remote location all conspired to make the police's job very difficult indeed; drones, in fact, were sent into the gorge to find Raghuvanshi's body. And, as if to illustrate that point, the weather changed again while NDTV was at the spot, the mist rolling back partially to reveal the foliage lining the gorge while still hiding most of the drop. And these reasons fed into the killers' selection of this spot, the police have indicated, for their dastardly deed. The cops believe it was here, or somewhere nearby, that Raja was murdered. The logic is quite unescapable; it would have been impossible, dangerous even, for the killers to be spotted carrying Raghuvanshi's body to the dumping site if he had been killed elsewhere. And, as NDTV retraced his footsteps on his final day, it soon became quite apparent the murder was pre-meditated, for the trekking route they were on was a less-travelled road, meaning there were fewer chances his death or his killers would be seen. What Happened In Meghalaya? On May 20, Raja and Sonam left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya. They had a one-way ticket only. The three 'killers' followed them on their journey, dispatched to Guwahati first by Raj Kushwaha to buy the axe and then to Shillong, where they stayed at a hotel near the couple's homestay. The picture of honeymoon bliss, Raja and Sonam visited tourist hotspots in the beautiful northeastern state over the next two days, including the 'living roots' bridge in Nongriat. A dazed Sonam Raghuvanshi surfaced in UP on June 8, two weeks later. They were seen on the morning of May 23 by a local guide, Albert Pde. That was at 10 am. That was the last time Raja Raghuvanshi was seen alive. Pde's sighting was critical, since he told the police he saw Raja and Sonam, and three other men, who were speaking in Hindi. The three men Pde saw were most likely the killers. What happened between then and June 2, when the body was found, is still unclear, although sources close to the investigation have offered NDTV some details, including Raj Kushwaha's alleged role in orchestrating the murder and Sonam's "kill him" signal to the murderers. What happened after June 2 is unclear also. Sonam disappeared. There are reports that she was spotted in Indore after her husband's death, possibly to meet with her lover, who had stayed away from the northeast, but there is no confirmation of this. What we do know is that Sonam Raghuvanshi surfaced in UP on June 8.
