The family of Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore-based businessman murdered during his honeymoon, is demanding the death penalty for his wife, Sonam, the prime accused, and four others. Meghalaya police have filed a chargesheet against eight individuals in connection with the case.
The Meghalaya Police, which codenamed the investigation as 'Operation Honeymoon', collected evidence from the residences and other places frequented by the accused in Indore and Ghazipur, Syiem said.
Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam were reported missing on May 23 and days later, the body of the newlywed groom was discovered on June 2 in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji, in the East Khasi Hills district.
The brother of Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is among the five arrested for the murder of her Indore-based husband Raja Raghuvanshi, on Wednesday came out in support of the victim's family and vowed to fight a legal battle to get justice for them.
Following Sonam Raghuvanshi's surrender in the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, her brother Govind Raghuvanshi on Monday has refrained from commenting further.
'I feel the murderers had done a recce of this place before murdering Raja.' 'It is isolated, there are no CCTV cameras.' 'It was a fit place to commit the crime.'
Victim's brother said he never thought Sonam Raghuvanshi was capable of murdering Raja.
"We stand vindicated. Those who tried to tarnish the image of Sohra and its people as violent have now been exposed," said a visibly relieved Pde.
"My son died in agony. All the culprits should be hanged to set an example, so that no family loses its son to such crime in future," Raghuvanshi's father Ashok Raghuvanshi told PTI.
Raja Raghuvanshi, the Indore resident killed while honeymooning in Meghalaya, was told by his wife Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, investigators said on Wednesday.
The accused, Raja Rahuvanshi's wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raj Singh Kushwaha, Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand, were then brought back to the Shillong Sadar Police Station.
All those arrested will be taken to Sohra around 12 pm on Tuesday for the reconstruction of the crime scene, the police said.
Raja and his wife Sonam disappeared on May 23 hours after they checked out of a homestay at Nongriat village, 20 km from where his body was found, they said.
The police claim to have cracked the case, reminiscent of the recent Meghalaya honeymoon murder, within a week of receiving a complaint alleging that Tejeshwar (32) went missing.
'If inner line permit was in place in Meghalaya, the details of the three people who allegedly murdered Raja would have been on record.'
Post-mortem saying two head injuries with a sharp cutting weapon, Kharkongor said.
The Meghalaya Police on Monday arrested the owner of a flat where Sonam Raghuvanshi, accused in the murder of her husband during their honeymoon, stayed in Indore after fleeing the northeastern state following the crime last month, an officer said.
After Sonam was found in Uttar Pradesh, the police officials sent her to Sadar Hospital for initial treatment. Now she is kept in the Sakhi One Stop Centre, the official said.
He reiterated the demand for a narco test of Sonam's entire family, alleging that her relatives and friends might also have played a role in the conspiracy to murder his brother.
Four militants belonging to the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army were killed by the Meghalaya police during a special operation conducted in search of a hideout in a remote village in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
Raja Raghuvanshi (29) and his wife Sonam had gone missing on May 23, hours after they checked out of a homestay at Nongriat village in Sohra area
A state government that came to power after swearing to protect all people without discrimination refused to help a non-Christian organisation till the high court rapped it on its knuckles, observes former BJP MP Tarun Vijay, former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
Raja's mother said that Sonam behaved well towards her and used to hug her when they met. She added that if Sonam has no involvement in the case, then she should not be accused.
Sonam was arrested along with four others for allegedly killing her husband Raja while the couple was honeymooning in the picturesque north eastern state of Meghalaya.
'Sonam's phones must have been destroyed somewhere on the way, but we cannot confirm it until we start questioning her.'
A tourist guide on Saturday claimed that the honeymoon couple from Indore, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, was accompanied by three men on the day they went missing from Meghalaya's Sohra area.
While their suitcase remained at the Sohra homestay, they spent the night at a homestay in Nongriat before checking out early on May 23.
Meghalaya Police filed a charge sheet in the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, naming his wife and her boyfriend as the accused. The murder occurred during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.
National Disaster Response Force personnel on Tuesday joined the search for a missing tourist from Indore a day after her husband's body was found in a gorge in Sohra area of Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district, police said.
The couple arrived in Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter. They trekked over 3,000 steps down the gorge to visit the famous living root bridges in Nongriat village, where they stayed the night, according to police.
Raja was hacked to death on May 23 while honeymooning in the northeastern state. His wife Sonam, her alleged boyfriend Raj and three hitmen have been arrested in connection with the murder.
In a significant breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Meghalaya Police on Sunday recovered key evidence, including a missing gold chain of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was killed in Sohra last month.
The police also found out that Raj Kushwaha, boyfriend of Sonam, was the mastermind in the murder plot and she is the co-conspirator.
A group of villagers from Meghalaya allegedly vandalised and burnt down a forest office in Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, following the killing of six people in violence that occurred in a disputed area along the border between the two states, officials claimed on Wednesday.
The beautiful twinkling Christmas markets that come up across the world, as December begins, allow you to step into the magic Christmas.
Body parts of the man's mother were found on February 19 near Cherrapunji.
Security agencies in Manipur are investigating an arms smuggling racket originating from Myanmar, with potential nationwide implications. The probe follows the arrest of a senior leader from a Valley-based Insurgent Group (VBIG).
He said that the police launched a search operation in Indore to find the whereabouts of Verma whose phone remained switched off.
In a swift joint operation, personnel from the Army and Meghalaya police nabbed six militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in the state on Wednesday afternoon.
After four people were arrested in the Indore couple case, Special Investigation Team (SIT) Chief, Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor, said on Monday that they will get their transit remand to bring them to Shillong.
