Shillong, June 11: Chilling new details have emerged in the murder case of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was allegedly killed during his honeymoon in Meghalaya by his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi and her accomplices.
A media report quoting police sources revealed that Sonam had warned her family of “consequences” if she was forced to marry Raja. Days later, Raja was found dead in a gorge near Weisawdong in Meghalaya.
According to the report, Raja’s elder brother, Vipin Raghuvanshi, told police that Sonam had confided in her mother about her relationship with Raj Singh Kushwaha, an employee at her family’s plywood business in Indore. Her mother had reportedly objected to the relationship and persuaded Sonam to marry within the community.
“She didn’t want to marry Raja,” Vipin told investigators, according to sources. “But Sonam warned the family, saying, ‘You will see what I do to that person. You all will have to bear the consequences.’ No one imagined it would come to this.”
Sonam and Raja were married on May 11 in Indore. The couple travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon but went missing on May 23, just hours after checking out of a homestay in Nongriat village. Raja’s body was recovered ten days later on June 2, triggering a murder investigation.
Police sources said that following the murder, Sonam stayed in a hotel with Raj Kushwaha before returning to Indore, where she remained in hiding for two days. On June 8, she surrendered at Nandganj police station in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, after a coordinated multi-state police operation intensified the search for her.
Investigators believe that Sonam was in a relationship with Raj before her marriage, and that the duo conspired to eliminate Raja. Sources claimed Sonam offered Rs 20 lakh to the hired killers, though an official confirmation of this detail is still awaited.
So far, five people have been arrested in connection with the murder: Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raj Singh Kushwaha, Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), Akash Rajput (19), and Anand Kurmi—from Uttar Pradesh, Indore, and Sagar (Madhya Pradesh).
