Latest news with #OperationHoneymoon
New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
Honeymoon murder: Accused stayed at Guwahati lodge days before killing Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya
GUWAHATI: The men accused of killing Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi -- allegedly at the request of his wife and her boyfriend -- posed as tourists while briefly staying at a Guwahati lodge, according to the lodge management. Speaking to TNIE, lodge manager Himanta Kalita said the alleged killers — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi — checked in on May 19 at 8:30 pm and left early the next morning at 5:30 am. 'They said they were tourists from Indore. We followed all the necessary formalities before allotting a room to them. They furnished their identity proof including Aadhaar cards. We have already shared the documents with the crime branch of the police. We don't give rooms to people if they cannot provide identity proof,' Kalita said. On June 3, a day after Raghuvanshi's decomposed body was recovered from a deep gorge in the Sohra area (also known as Cherrapunji), Meghalaya Police recovered a machete, suspected to have been purchased in Guwahati and used in the murder. Kalita said the three accused had backpacks when they checked into the lodge. 'But we didn't find them carrying any 'dao' (machete). There was nothing suspicious in their behaviour,' he said. 'The Meghalaya Police have called me. I am leaving for Shillong,' he added. A Meghalaya Police team, assisted by Assam Police, raided the lodge located in Guwahati's Pan Bazar area on Wednesday. They searched the room where the trio had stayed and recorded the statements of lodge employees. A Shillong court on Wednesday sent the three accused along with Sonam and her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha to an eight-day police remand. The Meghalaya police are likely to bring Sonam to her hometown Indore, where the conspiracy of the crime was hatched, a police official said. The Meghalaya police have named their investigation in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case as 'Operation Honeymoon'.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Who plotted Raja Raghuvanshi's murder in Meghalaya? Shocking claims by Sonam, 'lover' Raj Kushwaha
The honeymoon murder of Indore resident Raja Raghuvanshi has taken yet another dramatic turn, with the two main accused — his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and her alleged lover Raj Singh Kushwaha — reportedly giving conflicting accounts of the events leading to the crime. This blame game is complicating the investigation for the Meghalaya police's Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is trying to piece together what really happened. The SIT, under "Operation Honeymoon", has recovered necessary evidence from both Indore and Ghazipur to reconstruct the chain of events leading to the discovery of Raja's body in Meghalaya's Sohra region. On suspicion of hiring contract killers, Sonam Raghuvanshi was flown to Guwahati late Tuesday and brought to Shillong for questioning on Wednesday. Also read | 'Was attacked in Meghalaya, Raja died saving me': Sonam Raghuvanshi spins new story in honeymoon murder case According to a Live Hindustan report, Sonam Raghuvanshi told investigators that a group of men attempted to snatch her jewellery during the trip, and that her husband, Raja, died while trying to protect her. She further claimed that she lost consciousness during the incident and had no recollection of how she ended up in Ghazipur. The cops are closely examining her version of the events, believing it to be a larger part of the cover-up. Also read | How Sonam Raghuvanshi escaped after husband Raja Raghuvanshi's chilling murder in Meghalaya Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said that 'several suspects... have confessed' and confirmed that Sonam was 'fully involved.' Authorities suspect that after Raja's death, Sonam drove from Shillong to Guwahati, then reached Indore on May 27 by train. The next day, she went to Ghazipur, home of Raj Kushwaha, leading to her arrest on June 9. Raj Kushwaha, who is also being questioned, has claimed that he pulled out of the trip to Meghalaya at the last moment and tried to stop the others from going too. A senior police officer told Hindustan Times, 'Raj Kushwaha claims he didn't want to support Sonam, and at the last moment, cancelled his plan to go to Meghalaya. He also allegedly asked the three others not to go, but they went to see Meghalaya after Sonam booked the tickets.' Also read | Who is Raj Kushwaha? Raja Raghuvanshi's brother makes big claim on Sonam Raghuvanshi 'Even at the last moment, the three refused to kill, but Sonam insisted and said she would give ₹15 lakh for that. Police are verifying these claims,' the officer added. Several media reports claimed that Sonam was ready to push Raja off the cliff herself if the hired killers backed out. Also read | 'Never talked about Sonam, wasn't planning to marry': Raj Kushwaha's sister on his future plans Meanwhile, Sonam's father, Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, has accused the Meghalaya Police of framing his daughter and demanded a CBI investigation. On the other hand, Raja's mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, believes her son was tricked into travelling to Shillong under false pretences. Raja, who got married on May 11, was reported missing along with Sonam during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. His body was found 10 days later, on June 2, in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra, East Khasi Hills district.
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
"Operation Honeymoon" Spreads Beyond Meghalaya Border, Focus On Guwahati
Guwahati: The operation -- code named Operation Honeymoon -- to unearth the missing links of the horrific "Honeymoon murder" continues with the Meghalaya police likely to raid more areas outside the state where the digital footprints of the accused are to be found. Sources in the Special Investigation Team said the idea is to find missing links in this case. Today, Meghalaya police with help of colleagues in Assam, raided a lodge in Pan Bazar locality of Guwahati, where the three alleged contract killers had stayed for a night while on their way to Shillong to kill Raja Raghuvanshi. According to Guwahati police sources, the three suspects had arrived at Ananda Lodge of Pan Bazar around 8.30 pm on May 19. The Meghalaya police searched the room they stayed in and recorded the statements of the lodge manager and staff who claimed the behaviour of the three was like any other boarders and they did not find anything suspicious. The men had supplied their Aadhar card as identity record at the lodge, police sources added. The men claimed they were students from Indore and were visiting Assam and other parts of northeast. They checked out early on next day - around 5:30 am, sources said. Meghalaya SIT feels that on May 20, the men had tailed the couple at Guwahati's Kamakhya Temple. The SIT had also found out that the men had bought the murder weapon- a new machete - from a flea market in Guwahati, like Fancy Bazar or Paltan Bazar area, not far from the lodge they stayed. Guwahati police sources added that the Meghalaya SIT is also analyzing CCTV footage of certain areas of the city where they found digital footprints of the accused. Search is on for the vendor from whom the machete was purchased.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Hans India
Honeymoon murder case: Sonam, four others produced before Meghalaya court
Shillong: All the accused in the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case, including Sonam Raghuvanshi, were produced before a Shillong court on Wednesday, 10 days after the body of Sonam's husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, was recovered. A police official said that after completion of various medical and legal formalities, all five were produced before the sessions court seeking their police custody for further interrogation and investigation of the case. Heavy security arrangements have been put in place in and around the Shillong court. 24-year-old Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused, was brought in Shillong late on Tuesday night while four other accused -- Raj Singh Khushwaha (21), Sonam's alleged lover and the mastermind, along with Anand Singh Kurmi (23), Akash Rajput (19), and Vishal Singh Chauhan (22) -- were brought to the Meghalaya capital on Wednesday. The police official said that all five accused, including Sonam, were taken to hospitals in Shillong for their medical checkup. Sonam was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi (29), during their honeymoon tour in Meghalaya's Sohra-Cherrapunji areas of the East Khasi Hills district. Sonam, who surrendered before police in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on June 7, was taken to Patna by road, then flown to Kolkata and onward to Guwahati. From Guwahati airport, she was brought to the Sadar police station in Shillong late on Tuesday night. East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, stated that the Meghalaya Police obtained transit remands of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Sonam and Raja had tied the knot on May 11, nine days before they departed for their honeymoon tour in mountainous Meghalaya. On May 23, the newlywed couple had gone missing in the Sohra-Cherrapunji areas, leading to the launch of a hectic search operation by the Meghalaya Police, National Disaster Response Force, local people and other agencies. On June 2, Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge below the Wei Sawdong parking lot at Riat Arliang in Sohra, sending shockwaves across the country, and a new twist in the case emerged. The Meghalaya Police formed Special Investigation Teams and launched 'Operation Honeymoon', and several teams went to Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and with the help of the police of the two states successfully arrested the five accused. All five accused will now face further investigation under the jurisdiction of the Meghalaya Police. According to Meghalaya police, Sonam, together with three others, after allegedly committing the murder of her husband, left Sohra and boarded a train to Indore from Guwahati, around 100 km from Shillong. Sonam went to Indore and stayed at a rented place and then fled to Uttar Pradesh, the police had said. Police suspect that Sonam and the other accused were trying to flee to Nepal and so reached Ghazipur from where the Nepal border is around 200 km. The murder of Raja Raghuvanshi came to light after locals found an abandoned two-wheeler, which the couple had hired from Shillong, at Sohrarim village between Shillong and Sohra Road. East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police (SP) Vivek Syiem earlier said that after completion of necessary legal formalities, all the accused would be taken to the crime spot in a day or two for reconstruction of the crime.
United News of India
2 days ago
- United News of India
Meghalaya police to produce Sonam & four accused before court in Shillong
Shillong, June 11 (UNI) A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Meghalaya Police will produce Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, before a local court in Shillong on Wednesday, officials said. Sonam was brought to Shillong by the state police early on Wednesday from Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport in Assam after she voluntarily surrendered at the Nanganj Police Station in Ghazipur district on Sunday night. She was taken to Ganesh Das Hospital in Shillong on Wednesday morning for a routine medical examination. The four other accused — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, Raj Singh Kushwaha, and Anand Kurmi — the key conspirators in the murder case have also been brought to Shillong and will be produced before a court. Police said the murder was allegedly plotted by Sonam and her boyfriend Raj Singh Kushwaha, a few days after their wedding on May 11 in Indore. Raja was murdered on May 23. His decomposed body was found on June 2 from a deep gorge near the Wei Sawdong parking lot at Riat Arliang in Sohra. Sonam, together with three others, after allegedly committing the murder of Raja, left Sohra and boarded a train to Indore from Assam's main city of Guwahati on May 24, police sources said. Meghalaya Police, which codenamed the investigation as 'Operation Honeymoon', had collected evidence from the residences and other places frequented by the accused in Indore and Ghazipur. The SIT has seized a machete, believed to be the murder weapon, which was recovered near Raja's body. The other items recovered at the crime scene include a woman's white shirt, a strip of Pentra 40 tablets, part of an LCD screen from a mobile phone, and a smartwatch worn by the deceased. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has promised to fast-track the case related to the brutal murder of Raja "Whatever steps need to be taken from our side we will do. We will try to fast-track things to ensure justice for Raja,' Sangma said. UNI RRK PRS
