In a significant turn in the high-profile murder case of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuwanshi, a local court in Shillong on Friday rejected the bail plea of Raj Kushwaha, one of the prime accused, on technical grounds. The counsel for Raj had applied for bail on parity after co-accused Sonam Raghuwanshi secured bail and was released from jail, becoming the first among the five accused to obtain relief.
“Fresh bail application will be moved for Raj, and for the remaining three accused we have also moved bail applications. The bail application for Raj was not rejected on merit but on technical grounds,” said Raj’s counsel, Advocate P. Yobin.
The case had gathered momentum months earlier when investigators submitted a voluminous 790-page chargesheet before the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Sohra Sub-Division Court, naming five individuals in connection with the alleged conspiracy and murder. Those chargesheeted include Sonam Raghuwanshi, her alleged partner Raj Kushwaha, and three alleged contract killers — Vishal Singh Chauhan, Akash Rajput, and Anand Kurmi — all accused of orchestrating the killing.
The sequence of events traces back to May 21, 2025, when Raja Raghuwanshi and his wife Sonam arrived in Shillong before travelling to Sohra. The couple was reported missing on May 26, prompting a large-scale search operation. The investigation took a grim turn on June 2, when Raja’s body was recovered from a deep gorge at Arliang Riat Kunongrim, Umblai, near Wei Sawdong Falls, a discovery that intensified the probe and led to multiple arrests in what has since evolved into one of the region’s most closely watched criminal cases.
