Indore: After police claimed to have achieved a much-needed breakthrough in the murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who along with his wife went on a honeymoon in Meghalaya and went missing on May 23 with the arrest of four, including his wife, the murder motive is yet to come to the forefront. But the name of one Raj Kushwaha has appeared in several media reports claiming his involvement in the crime? Who is Kushwaha? What could be the murder motive?
The Meghalaya Police on Monday dropped a hint that the motive behind tourist Raja’s murder could stem from the alleged affair of his wife, Sonam with Raj. The police have arrested Raj and three others for the murder of the Indore native.
The police further said Sonam, who allegedly planned the murder and hired hitmen days after her wedding with Raja, had apparently surrendered before the UP police in Ghazipur.
On being asked about the alleged affair, Vivek Syiem, Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills— as quoted by Hindustan Times—said: “Once the team (cops) reaches there, they will arrest her and take transit remand… Yes, it appears so (Sonam had a boyfriend)… Two teams of Meghalaya Police are there in MP, and one team is going to UP to arrest Sonam… It is a fact that she called up her relatives, but all this happened after the raids were conducted. If you look at it logically, all these days she hadn’t come out, but last night, when Raj Kushwaha and others were caught, suddenly she surfaced. That speaks for itself.”
#WATCH | Shillong: On the Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam Raghuvanshi case, Vivek Syiem, Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, says, “The first person arrested is 19 a 19-year-old Akash Rajput, from Lalitpur. The second accused is Vishal Singh Chauhan, age 22 years, from… pic.twitter.com/4KiWHTsYGP
— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2025
Who all have been arrested?
“The first person arrested is a 19-year-old Akash Rajput, from Lalitpur. The second accused is Vishal Singh Chauhan, age 22 years, from Indore, and the third is Raj Singh Kushwaha, age 21 years, from Indore. Yesterday, Sonam Raghuvanshi was in Ghazipur. This afternoon, we arrested another accused from the Sagar District. One person has been detained in the Nandgarh police station… The third team is on its way to arrest Sonam Raghuvanshi… These people committed the crime on May 23 and left soon after. At that time, we didn’t know it was a murder; we were looking for them. We looked for missing reports, and nobody was found. The body was found only on 2 June, after which SIT was formed, and the investigation started,” the SP told ANI.
The police officer confirmed that Raj Kushwaha—who was reportedly Sonam’s employee— may have been complicit in planning the murder.
“If we connect the dots, a preliminary investigation will reveal how this whole motive and crime was carried out. It was Raj Kushwaha with Sonam. When they come here, we will finally be able to confirm… All these days, Sonam and others were underground, and yesterday, when our operation started, suddenly she surfaced,” he told ANI.
The fourth accused, Anand Kurmi, was taken in custody in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar.
