Shillong: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Meghalaya Police to investigate the murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, has filed a 790-page chargesheet. The chargesheet was presented in court on Friday evening.
Raghuvanshi was murdered during his honeymoon in Sohra, Meghalaya, earlier this year. The incident grabbed the nation’s attention after it came to be known that his newly-wedded wife Sonam had allegedly masterminded the crime.
In the chargesheet, Sonam and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha have been named as the masterminds. Three others – Akash Rajput, Anand Kurmi, and Vishal Singh Chauhan – have also been named in the chargesheet for their role in the murder. It was these three who carried out the actual act.
All the five accused have been booked under charges of murder, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. They are now in judicial custody.
A supplementary chargesheet will soon be filed against three more co-accused, the police said. They are property dealer Silome James, building owner Lokendra Tomar, and security guard Balbir Ahirwar. These three are accused of destroying and concealing evidence.
Raghuvanshi got married to Sonam in Indore on May 11 and reached Meghalaya via Guwahati in Assam on May 20 for their honeymoon. The couple were reported missing while trekking in the East Khasi Hills district of the state on May 23. Meghalaya’s image as a tourist destination took a beating, with security concerns being raised, even as a massive rescue operation was launched by the local authorities.
On June 2, the semi-decomposed body of Raghuvanshi was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in the Sohra area of the East Khasi Hills district. The search continued for Sonam till she finally surfaced in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur and was then arrested.
The Meghalaya Police pieced together evidence and the whole conspiracy emerged. It has been alleged that Sonam, who was forced into the marriage by her parents, decided to kill Raghuvanshi with the help of Kushwaha.