In a significant development in the sensational murder case of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, a local court in Shillong on Wednesday granted two days of police custody to Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha, the prime accused in the case.
Public Prosecutor T. Chandra confirmed the court’s order, stating that the remaining three accused—Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi—have been remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.
Superintendent of Police (East Khasi Hills) Vivek Syiem, while speaking to media persons outside the court premises, said, “I have just come to know that we’ve got two days of police custody. We asked two days police custody for Raj and Sonam, we’ve got those two days police custody. We have sent the three others—Anand, Vicky, and Akash—to judicial custody and as and when the team arrives or we get more developments from there, we will be taking custody for them later. But as of now, we are taking two days police custody for Sonam and Raj.”
All five accused were taken to Shillong Civil Hospital for medical examination before being produced in court. They were earlier remanded to eight days of police custody in connection with Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder. Police are expected to seek further remand as the investigation progresses.
Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly murdered on May 23 while on his honeymoon in Meghalaya. His decomposed body was recovered from a gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2. According to police, Sonam—his wife—and her alleged partner Raj Kushwaha conspired and executed the murder with the help of three others.
Sonam was brought to Shillong shortly after midnight on June 11 by the Meghalaya Police’s Special Investigation Team, while the four other accused were brought on transit remand the following day. They were produced before the court, which initially granted police custody for eight days.
