Shillong/Indore – In a major breakthrough in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, a Meghalaya police team on Tuesday afternoon recovered a country-made pistol, two magazines, and two live .32 calibre rounds from a stream in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
This recovery came after two of the prime accused — Raja’s wife Sonam Raghuvanshi and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha — confessed to both their relationship and their role in the crime.
“The recovery of the firearm and ammunition confirms our suspicion about the kind of planning that went into this murder. We are piecing together every bit of evidence as we build a watertight case,” said Vivek Syiem, SP of East Khasi Hills.
So far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested eight people in connection with the murder. This includes Sonam, Raj, and three others — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi — all of whom are likely to be produced in court again on Thursday.
The three others arrested for tampering with evidence are:
- Lokendra Singh Tomar (flat owner),
- Silome James (property dealer), and
- Balla Ahirwar (security guard at the Heera Bagh Colony building),
where Sonam had reportedly been hiding for 10 days after the crime. They are expected to be presented before a Judicial Magistrate First Class on Thursday.
The latest recovery was made based on leads from Silome James, who also allegedly took ₹50,000 in cash from a laptop bag belonging to Raj Kushwaha. The money was found hidden inside his Hyundai i10 car. Police revealed that the laptop bag was burned, while the laptop itself was discarded on the roadside and remains untraced.
All eight individuals have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:
- Murder
- Destruction of evidence
- Criminal conspiracy
- Unlawful possession of arms and ammunition
Background of the Crime:
The decomposed body of 29-year-old Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi was recovered from a gorge near the Wei Sawdong viewpoint in Meghalaya on June 2, a week after he and his wife Sonam went missing from a local homestay.
The couple had married on May 11 and arrived in Sohra (Cherrapunji) on May 22 for their honeymoon. On May 23, Raja was allegedly lured to the tourist site by Sonam, where three hired men attacked him with machetes. Sonam reportedly fled the scene, only returning after the assault.
Police suspect the murder was premeditated, with financial motives and an illicit relationship at its core.