New Delhi: Sonam, the newly-wedded wife of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, has been arrested on charges of hiring contract killers to murder her husband in Sohra, Meghalaya, during their honeymoon trip.
Sonam apparently gave herself up to in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. The hired killers were also arrested. While one of them was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, two others were picked up from Indore, the police said. All three are from Madhya Pradesh.
The arrests bring closure to a case that was giving a bad name to the state of Meghalaya, a popular tourist destination in the northeastern part of the country.
Meghalaya Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang said that they found Sonam in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, who surrendered before the police. Three other accused – who are from Madhya Pradesh – were arrested in overnight raids.
One person was picked up from Uttar Pradesh, and another two accused were apprehended from Indore by the SIT. Sonam surrendered at the Nandganj police station, and was subsequently arrested,” the police said.
Police are questioning the accused and investigating further, officials said.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma congratulated the police for cracking the case.
“Within 7 days, a major breakthrough has been achieved by the #meghalayapolice in the Raja murder case…3 assailants who are from Madhya Pradesh have been arrested, female has surrendered and operation still on to catch 1 more assailant…well done,” he said in a post on X.
The newlywed couple, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, were visiting Cherrapunjee in the East Khasi Hills for their honeymoon when they went missing on May 23. The couple arrived in Nongriat a day earlier and were last spotted checking out of Balaji Homestay. A scooter that they had rented was found abandoned at Sohrarim a day after they went missing.
10 days later, the Indore-based businessman’s body was found dead inside a deep gorge below the Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang. A machete suspected to have been used to murder him was also recovered from near the spot. The search was on for his missing wife.
Saturday, a tourist guide in Meghalaya had claimed that he had seen the couple with three men on the day they went missing. According to the guide at Mawlakhiat, five of them were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23. He said he recognised the couple as he had offered his services to them on May 22 to climb down to Nongriat, but they had politely refused and hired another guide.
