Shillong – In a chilling revelation, investigators say that Sonam, the wife of Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore resident who was found murdered in Meghalaya while on honeymoon, had convinced him to delay consummating their marriage until they made an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
According to police, this was part of an elaborate trap she set with her boyfriend and three contract killers, choosing the remote terrain of Northeast India to carry out the crime.
“Sonam convinced her husband Raja that they need to make offerings at the Kamakhya Devi Temple before consummating the marriage,” a police officer involved in the investigation told PTI.
Raja and Sonam were married on May 11 in Indore and reached Meghalaya through Guwahati on May 20. The couple went missing on May 23 after checking out of a homestay in Nongriat village, located in Sohra, East Khasi Hills.
Raja’s body was discovered in a deep gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2. The case took another turn when Sonam resurfaced over 1,200 km away, in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, and surrendered to police on June 9. Her boyfriend Raj Kushwaha and the three hired killers were also arrested.
Police say Sonam manipulated Raja into taking her deep into the Nongriat jungles, believing it would be easier for the killers to strike in such a secluded area.
“Sonam coerced her husband to take her to the deep jungles of Nongriat with the belief that the hitmen she hired would have a better chance of killing him somewhere on the route, considering it is secluded. But, since there were too many tourists trekking to Nongriat on May 22 and May 23, they couldn’t kill him there,” the officer said.
“They finally killed him near Weisawdong Falls, and dumped his body into the deep gorge,” he added.
According to East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem, the contract killers arrived in Guwahati on May 21, a day after the couple.
“The killers procured a machete from outside their hotel in Guwahati, and then travelled by road to Shillong,” Syiem said.
“We have gathered CCTV evidence, making this investigation a very tight-knit one,” he added.
Investigators revealed that Sonam was constantly in touch with Raj on the day of the murder, while Raj coordinated with the killers.
“Sonam was present when Raja was killed,” the officer said, adding that she fled the scene immediately after.
“She took a taxi from Mawkdok to Shillong, and then hired a tourist cab to Guwahati before boarding multiple trains to avoid detection. While she claims to have reached Indore directly, this is still being verified,” he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is working across states to map the full sequence of events.
“We are also verifying Sonam’s claim that she had never been to Meghalaya before. The SIT is committed to filing a watertight chargesheet,” another officer said.
Sonam, her boyfriend Raj, and the three suspected contract killers — Vishal Singh Chauhan, Akash Rajput, and Anand Kurmi — have been produced in court in Shillong.