Viral video shows Sonam Raghuvanshi's alleged lover Raj Kushwaha seen consoling her father at Raja's funeral
In a shocking twist to the
Meghalaya honeymoon murder
case, the alleged boyfriend of Sonam Raghuvanshi, accused of plotting her husband's murder, was seen consoling her father during the victim's funeral.
Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, a transporter from Indore, was found brutally murdered in Meghalaya on June 2, just days after his wedding. According to police, the murder was planned by his wife, Sonam, and her boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, along with three hired killers. All five have been arrested.
As the country follows the chilling case, Raja's influencer sister, Shrasti, has taken to Instagram to share wedding moments, updates on the case, and emotional messages demanding justice. In one post, she revealed a video showing Raj Kushwaha standing with Sonam's father at Raja's funeral. "Raj Kushwaha was seen with Sonam's father at Raja's house," she wrote in the caption.
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Their mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, also claimed that Raj had attended the wedding and was seen with Sonam's father. While she didn't directly blame Sonam, she asked why her daughter-in-law didn't try to protect Raja.
'My brother had promised to be with her for seven lifetimes, but he didn't even get seven days,' Shrasti said in one post, urging people to stand by her family in their quest for justice.
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Photos and videos of Raja and Sonam are now being removed or destroyed by relatives, while footage of Sonam being taken away by police has gone viral.
Raja and Sonam had left for Meghalaya on May 20 for their honeymoon, just nine days after getting married. On May 23, they reportedly went missing while on their way to a tourist spot. The murder came to light when Raja's body was discovered with deep injuries.
Sonam reappeared on June 8 in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, and was taken into custody. Police allege that she and Raj plotted Raja's murder and tracked him throughout the trip by sharing live location. The three contract killers were arrested from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in a joint police operation.
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Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
Meghalaya horror: Sonam returned to MP after hubby's murder, met lover, then left for UP, cops say
INDORE/LUCKNOW: Madhya Pradesh police claimed Tuesday Sonam Raghuvanshi had returned to Indore days after her husband's murder in Meghalaya, met her alleged lover in a rented room, and plotted her next move before resurfacing 2,000km away - dazed and dishevelled at a dhaba in eastern UP. Also read: Sonam paid Rs 50k for killers' travel; 2 accused have confessed, say police Sonam, 24, had vanished on May 23 near Wei Sawdong Falls in East Khasi Hills, where she and her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, 28, had travelled on a sudden honeymoon. On June 2, Raja's body was found in a gorge near the falls' parking lot. She remained missing. Her reappearance in Ghazipur on June 9 deepened the mystery. Indore police said she was never abducted as she claimed. "We have information that Sonam reached Indore between May 25 and May 27 by train and stayed in a rented room in Dewas Gate," additional DCP (Crime Branch) Rajesh Dandotiya said. "Raj Kushwaha, her co-accused, met her there. He later arranged a taxi to UP." Sonam trying to mislead sleuths: UP police official Police didn't explain why she was sent to Uttar Pradesh. CCTV footage is being examined to track her route, which investigators said was deliberately confusing. Railway records show she may have taken a train from Guwahati to Patna after May 23-24, dodging flight records and misleading police. A senior UP officer said: 'We have CCTV footage of her getting off a Guwahati-Patna train. The route was chosen to misguide investigators.' The 15-day gap between Raja's death and Sonam's arrest is being described by police as a calculated effort to fabricate a tale of trauma-induced amnesia. At the Ghazipur One-Stop Centre, a govt support shelter, she reportedly slept for seven of her 15 hours there, avoided doctors and police, and repeated: 'Mujhe kuch yaad nahi hai (I don't remember anything).' Her appearance — swollen face, messy hair, quiet demeanour — baffled the staff. 'She looked nothing like a bride. No grief, no mention of husband. Just fatigue and sleepiness,' said a woman officer. According to Indore police, the murder conspiracy was hatched on May 17, six days after the wedding and three days before the trip. Sonam had returned to her parental home on May 15, and reconnected with Raj on another SIM. They spoke for hours on May 16. The next day, Raj allegedly met three childhood friends — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi — at a restaurant in Indore's Super Corridor, where the killing was planned. The trio left Indore on a train to Guwahati via New Delhi, reached Shillong on May 21, and allegedly shadowed the couple using a rental car. Sonam sent live locations, lured Raja to isolated spots for photos, and waited for the right moment, police alleged. 'They tried to push him off a cliff in a forest first, but it didn't work out,' said an officer in Indore. 'Instead, the attackers used a machete bought in Guwahati and hacked Raja to death in a remote area, as Sonam watched.' Sonam's phone records and messages to Raj contradict her claims of memory loss and captivity, UP police said. Her silence under questioning, indifferent behaviour, and elaborate route back to UP point to a calculated escape rather than trauma, investigators added.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Operation Honeymoon: How SIT got whiff of Indore couple's marriage gone wrong
Guwahati/Shillong: The first clue in the jigsaw puzzle that led to solving the murder plot of Indore transporter Raja Raghuvanshi came when a SIT team found it strange that the newly married couple did not upload any pictures of their trip in Meghalaya on social media. The police also examined 42 video footage and studied their behavioural pattern and movement. These clips eventually proved crucial as sleuths linked them to the crime scene after Raja's body was found and also examined witness testimonies on their movements after the murder. Meghalaya Police on Tuesday disclosed that their operation to solve Raja Raghuvanshi's murder and apprehend the suspects was unofficially codenamed 'Operation Honeymoon'. This specific codename was given because the newly married couple, who tied the knot on May 11, was on a honeymoon trip to the northeastern state, sources said. Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly plotted the killing of Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya, will be produced before a Shillong court on Wednesday, police said. Police said further suspicion arose when posts appeared on Raja's social media account at 2:15 am after his death, which investigators later learnt was a deliberate misdirection. Sources indicate that surveillance footage revealed Sonam meeting the contract killers approximately 10 km from where the crime occurred. Following the incident, she departed Shillong, taking an indirect route through Siliguri to Indore, briefly occupying rented accommodation, before travelling to Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh via Varanasi, assisted by a driver. Crime scene evidence included Sonam's raincoat, which she provided to Akash Rajput, one of the assailants, and a matching jacket worn by another suspect. Investigators also recovered a mobile screen from Raja's device. Significantly, when arrested, Anand Kurmi was wearing the same attire from the day of the incident. The machete used in the crime was bought from near Guwahati railway station, providing additional evidence of the calculated crime, sources added. Police confirmed that the machete does not resemble those traditionally used in Meghalaya. After careful coordination between Shillong Police and Indore crime branch, five individuals were arrested, including Raja's spouse, Sonam, who was brought to Shillong late on Tuesday. Police sources said 20 officers worked across various angles, piecing together the evidence. Within three to four days, they found Sonam's direct involvement in the crime. Meghalaya Police officially initiated Operation Honeymoon on June 7, leading to multiple arrests across Madhya Pradesh by June 8. Sonam remained untraced from May 23 until she surrendered to police in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday night.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
A Murder, 3 Grieving Mothers: How Meghalaya Killing Has Affected Families
Indore: What began as a dreamy honeymoon for an Indore-based couple in Meghalaya has unravelled into a sordid saga of murder and betrayal, leaving three families heartbroken. The shocking death of 29-year-old Indore transport businessman Raja Raghuvanshi has ripped open a dark secret, plunging three mothers into unimaginable grief. As Meghalaya Police peel the layers of this horrific crime, the narrative points to a "murder of trust" within the most intimate of relationships. According to Meghalaya Police, Sonam was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to murder her husband Raja Raghuvanshi with her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha. The duo had hired three killers to execute the plan. Uma Raghuvanshi stands by her son Raja's garlanded photograph, her face a mask of grief and bewildered anger. "Initially, we couldn't believe that my daughter-in-law Sonam could get my son Raja killed," she told PTI, her voice trembling. "But we are slowly starting to believe it now." The questions that haunt her is, "If Sonam liked another boy, why didn't she refuse to marry Raja? Why did she kill my son?" The two got married on May 11 and left for honeymoon on May 20. During the probe, it emerged that Sonam herself had planned the trip to Meghalaya. "I didn't know that my son would return from Meghalaya as a dead body," Uma said while crying inconsolably and recalling the warm send-off the day the couple left, little knowing that it would turn into a tragic farewell. The family was completely unaware of Raj Kushwaha's existence before the Meghalaya police investigated the case. Miles away from Raja's residence, in a small rented house in Indore, Raj Kushwaha's mother, Chunni Devi, is also inconsolable, along with her three daughters. "My son is innocent. He has been framed. How can a 20-year-old boy commit such a big crime? He is the only breadwinner in our house after my husband passed away," she told PTI. She also claimed that her son even attended Raja Raghuvanshi's funeral procession and returned home in tears. "My son was saddened by Raja Raghuvanshi's death and even went to his funeral procession. After returning from the funeral procession, he was crying a lot. I had consoled him that everything will be fine and what is the use of crying now," the mother of the alleged main conspirator said. Sonam's maternal home in Indore's Govind Nagar Kharcha area is in a different kind of shock. Her family runs a business dealing in Sunmica sheets, where Raj Kushwaha, a 12th-grade dropout, worked as an accountant. Sonam's mother, Sangeeta, was reluctant to speak to the media. "False allegations are being made against my daughter. I cannot say right now what might have happened to Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya?" she muttered. The mother of Sonam, the alleged main accused, demanded that there should be a detailed investigation into the murder of her son-in-law. Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam were reported missing on May 23 and days later, the body of the newlywed groom was discovered on June 2 in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji, in the East Khasi Hills district. Sonam surrendered to the police in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district, while Raj Kushwaha and three other accused were apprehended in various parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Meghalaya Police is probing every detail of this case. However, for the three mothers whose lives have been irrevocably shattered, the tears continue to flow.
