'We didn't pay attention to Sonam's past, Raja was very happy'

Vipin Raghuvanshi, brother of the deceased Raja Raghuvanshi, on Tuesday levelled fresh allegations against his sister-in-law and the prime accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, in the ongoing investigation into the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case.

The brother of the deceased alleged that the accused, Sonam, staged her surrender and that more than five individuals were involved in the crime.

He also claimed that Sonam Raghuvanshi's mother kept information from their family and that she also knew about the alleged affair between Raj Kushwaha and her daughter, Sonam.

"We are sure there are more than five accused in the case. When Sonam surrendered, she called her brother and said someone had dropped her off here. How did she not know those two people? We discovered that she got here by bus and that two other people were with her. She just framed the whole scene. She's pretending to surrender. We have faith in the investigations being carried out by the police," Vipin Raghuvanshi said.

He further said, "Had Raj Kushwaha been innocent, he wouldn't be talking to Sonam for hours. Sonam was found in Raj's hometown; she probably took shelter in his house. The time between Raja's murder and when his body was recovered, Sonam would talk to Raj for hours. We did a background check of their family before getting Raja married to her. We had no idea Sonam would turn out to be like this."

"I believe Sonam's mother kept things from us. She didn't tell us the whole story, and she would have known that Raj had an affair with Sonam. Had Sonam's father and brother known about Raj, they would have fired him from their factory. I think there are more than five people in the case," he added.

Raja Raghuvanshi's mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, on Tuesday demanded justice for her son and said that the accused should be given life imprisonment.

"I want justice for my son. The accused should be hanged. They should be given a strict punishment. I believe more people are involved in the case since one individual could not have orchestrated and carried it out," said the grieving mother of the deceased.

Speaking about her daughter-in-law, Sonam Raghuvanshi, Uma said, "We were happy to welcome her into the family. We didn't pay attention to her past; we could only see what lay ahead. Raja was very happy with the marriage. The last time I talked to them was on May 23. I had no suspicions until the very end."

Meanwhile, the fourth accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case has also been sent to transit remand for 7 days.

The fourth accused, identified as Anand, was sent to transit remand for 7 days till June 16 today.

Three other accused -- Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Raj Singh Kushwaha -- received transit remand for 7 days on Monday.

"The fourth accused, Anand, was brought here by Shillong Police. He is being presented in front of the court for transit remand. Shillong Police will take all four accused with them and investigate further. Anand is a resident of Indore, and all three accused are friends of Raj Kushwaha," Additional DCP Rajesh Dandotiya said said.

"Raj used to work as an accountant at Sonam Raghuvanshi's office. Vishal and Anand were students in their first and second years, and Akash was unemployed. None of them has any criminal record. All four accused are between 20 and 25 years of age. All the interrogation has been done by the Shillong Police," said the official.

The DCP said all four will be taken to Shillong following the completion of transit remand formalities later today. According to the police, Sonam Rahuvanshi, the wife of the deceased and Raj Kushwaha are the prime accused.