(L-R) Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi, (inset) Raj Kushwaha.
The Meghalaya Police on Monday arrested four people in connection with the murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi. Among the four, 21-year-old Raj Singh Kushwaha has also been arrested as the prime accused and is suspected of having been in a relationship with Sonam Raghuvanshi.
Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, Vivek Syiem, said that Kushwaha was the “handler” of the other three accused, suspected to be the assailants who carried out the murder. According to the police, Kushwaha was never in Meghalaya himself.
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Officials said that Sonam’s involvement in the crime “cannot be ruled out”. The police are currently in the process of securing transit remand to bring her back to Meghalaya for further interrogation.
Vipul Raghuvanshi, brother of the deceased, alleged that Raj Kushwaha was Sonam’s employee. Speaking to ANI, he suggested that Sonam may have been involved in the murder since Kushwaha’s name has surfaced.
Meanwhile, her father Devi Singh, who runs a business selling Sunmica sheets used in furniture, reportedly told the media that a person named Raj did work in his warehouse until the day before yesterday. “I know only one Raj who works with me, but I am not aware of Raj Kushwaha. I know no one else,” he told PTI.
He further accused the police of levelling false allegations against his daughter.
The other accused have been identified as Vishal Singh Chauham (22), Akash Rajput (19), and Anand Singh Kurmi (23). While Chauham and Rajput were arrested from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, Kurmi was apprehended from Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh on Monday.
According to the SP, two teams conducted raids in these locations with the help of local police and arrested the accused. Another team is reportedly on the way to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh where Sonam remains in custody after she “surrendered” on Sunday night.
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On May 23, Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi went “missing” in Meghalaya during their honeymoon. They tied the knot last month in Indore. While the incident was initially treated as a case of missing tourist, when the officials found the body of Raja, it turned into a murder investigation. His body was recovered from a deep gorge below Wei Sawdong falls on June 2.
The three assailants committed the murder on May 23 and left the state that day itself, said Syiem. Raja had two sharp cuts on his head, one from the front and the other from behind.
