Meghalaya honeymoon case: Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raj Kushwaha planned to burn another woman's body to fake her death

Mint

20 hours ago

A different angle has come out in the investigation of the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, Meghalaya Police disclosed that the killers had plotted to murder an unknown woman, burn her body, and pass it off as that of Raja's wife, Sonam, allowing her to remain in hiding until the truth surfaced, according to a PTI report.
Investigations have identified Raj Kushwaha, reportedly Sonam's boyfriend, as the mastermind behind the plot, with Sonam named as a co-conspirator in the gruesome plan.
The planning started in February in Indore and they had thought of ways about how Sonam would disappear after the killing of Raja. 'One plan was to make people believe that she would wash away by a river. Another plan was to murder any woman, burn the body and claim that it was of Sonam. However, none of the plans fructify,' the police officer said, PTI reported.
The group involved in the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi had arrived in Assam several days before the newlywed couple landed in the state on May 19.
'As that did not work for some reason, Sonam planned to go to Shillong and Sohra, and according to understanding, all met at Nongriat,' the officer said.
Syiem said they started together for Weisawdong Falls, and there all three hit Raja with a machete they bought in Assam and killed him in front of Sonam between 2 pm and 2.18 pm on May 23 before throwing the body in a gorge.
'Sonam gave Akash the raincoat she was wearing as his shirt had a blood spot. They left Weisawdong on scooters, and Akash threw the raincoat later as it too had blood stains. They also abandoned the two-wheeler hired by Sonam and Raja at a place,' the SP said, as reported by PTI.
The police recovered the raincoat and the two-wheeler when Sonam was thought to have been missing.
'Raj had given Vishal a burqa which he has handed over to Sonam. She wore it, went to the Police Bazaar and took a taxi to Guwahati. From Guwahati, she reached Siliguri (in West Bengal) on a bus. From there, she took buses to go to Patna and Arah and boarded a train for Lucknow. From Lucknow, Sonam took a bus and reached Indore,' he said.
In the meantime, Meghalaya media interviewed a tour guide who said he had seen Sonam and Raja with three people.
Raj told Sonam to leave Indore and emerge somewhere in Siliguri and claim herself as a victim of abduction.
But on June 8, when Sonam had left Indore, two police teams from Meghalaya reached UP and Madhya Pradesh in civil dress. 'When the first arrest (Akash) was made in UP, Raj panicked and told Sonam to call up her family and tell them she just escaped from an abduction gang. That's how this whole thing came to light in Ghazipur,' Syiem said.
They had thought that Raja's body would not be discovered as it was remote and the police enquiry would take one to two months. So she thought of playing the victim card.
'We are recording their statements. We are questioning them. We will gather more evidence and reconstruct the crime scene,' Syiem said.
The officer said the police are confident to file a charge sheet in the case within the mandatory 90 days.
Sonam planned to go to Shillong and Sohra, and... all three hit Raja with a machete.
All five were remanded to eight days of police custody on Wednesday.