East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem on Wednesday confirmed a significant breakthrough in the murder investigation of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, stating, “Today afternoon on the leading of the accused Silom James, a country-made pistol with two magazines and two .32 ammunition was recovered by SIT from a stream and Rs50,000 from his I10 car MP09WG 2352 which he took out from laptop bag of Raj.’
“The bag is burnt and the laptop is claimed to be thrown by the roadside and could not be found,” The SP added.
Earlier, police had stated that the three newly arrested accused, believed to be involved in destroying crucial evidence, will be brought to Shillong on Thursday and are likely to be produced before the court thereafter.
Raja Raghuvanshi was murdered on May 23 while on his honeymoon in Meghalaya. His decomposed body was recovered on June 2 from a gorge near Weisawdong Falls in Sohra. Police believe Raja’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, conspired to kill him with help from three other men.
Sonam was brought to Shillong by the Meghalaya Police Special Investigation Team shortly after midnight on June 11. The other four accused were brought on transit remand the next day. All five were initially placed in police custody for eight days, and on June 13, Sonam and Raj were further remanded to two additional days of custody, which ended on Friday.
On Friday, a Shillong court remanded Sonam and Raj to 13 days of judicial custody. The remaining three accused—Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi—were remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on Thursday.
It may be noted that Lokendra Singh Tomar, a resident of Gwalior and landlord of the flat in Dewas Naka where Sonam had been hiding, was recently arrested by Gwalior Police following an SIT request.
Earlier, the SIT had arrested Silome James, a property dealer, and Balbir Ahirbar, a security guard-cum-carpenter from Ashok Nagar district. These arrests are part of the ongoing investigation into the high-profile killing that has gripped both Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh.
