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As the high-profile investigation into the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi unfolds, Meghalaya Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang, while talking to Meghalaya News 24 has asserted that the State Government gave the police complete autonomy to investigate the case without any interference. Despite persistent external pressure, particularly from the victim’s family, to transfer the probe to central agencies after the disappearance of Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi, Wahlang emphasized that the police operated independently with full institutional support—a move that ultimately led to the successful arrest of the accused under complex and high-pressure circumstances.
“Right from a time when the missing report was filed and the FIR was subsequently filed, the police have always had a free hand to conduct investigation and there was no attempt from any quarter to interfere with the process of investigation. And that is the reason why, the process of investigation led to this arrest of the culprits, and of course, it was very challenging because time was a challenge and then, of course, terrain was a challenge and a lot of pressure was coming from various quarters to hand over the investigation to Central agencies. They worked under a lot of pressure but kudos to them and we have to give credit to the investigation team they manage to crack the case and it’s a watertight case now and I’m sure that it will lead to a chargesheet,” said Wahlang.
He dismissed comparisons between central and state agencies, terming them irrelevant at this stage. “You see the whole idea is to ensure that the culprits are napped and now that the case has led into that and the culprits have been caught and the investigation is going on, interrogation is going on. It is futile to even go into that direction and say that the state police is better than CBI. Let us not go and speculate, let us not go and conjecture and that path. It’s a pointless. It’s a good thing that has happened and that is the police have managed to crack the case and we are happy with that.”
Responding to questions regarding pressure to hand over the case to the CBI, he stated, “There was no direct pressure as such. But as you have seen, the relatives from Madhya Pradesh had made it very clear even in the national media that the case should be handed over to central agencies but we never succumb to that pressure and there was no pressure from any quarter. We had given a free hand to the police and the police had done a good job.”
It may be noted that apart from the family’s appeal, on June 7, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had spoken to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma as well as Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding that the case be transferred to the CBI.
Calling the case “a little complicated,” Wahlang said, “It’s an outlier, I must say because it’s a thing, which is happening for the first time. But with the help of technology, with the help of more advanced tools of investigation they have been able to crack a case. So yes, it is interstate. It is a pan-India coverage you can say and what I can only say is that they have done a good job as far as investigating the case is concerned and I’m sure that it will lead to a chargesheet very soon.”
When asked whether the government was monitoring the investigation’s progress, Wahlang reaffirmed the administration’s policy of non-interference. “The investigation is going on and I cannot say anything beyond that.” He added, “We don’t interfere with the process of investigation and we don’t seek reports from the government side.”
