Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi went missing in Meghalaya after checking out from a homestay on May 23. Raja’s body was found in a gorge on June 2, while Sonam is still missing. Police are investigating their last known locations and activities.

Newly wed couple Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam visited some areas during their honeymoon in Meghalaya before they went missing on May 23. While Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was found in a gorge on June 2, a search is still on for his wife.

The Meghalaya Police have also released CCTV footage of the couple from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore.

We trace the places the couple visited and other areas linked to the case.

Balaji Guest House, Shillong, Meghalaya

May 21, 6 pm: Shillong

The couple reached Balaji Guest House in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong and checked in.

The scooty rented by the couple from Shillong

May 22, morning: Shillong

In the morning, they went out on Keating Road, rented a scooty and returned to Balaji Guest House. They checked out without having breakfast. They told the manager they would return by May 25 and would call if they needed a room. From Shillong, they rode the scooty to the popular tourist hotspot Sohra (Cherrapunji) carrying two luggages.

Shipara Homestay, Nongriat village, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya

May 22, evening: Mawlakhiat, East Khasi Hills district

The couple arrived at Mawlakhiat village in East Khasi Hills, and kept the scooty at a parking spot run by the local community for tourists. They hired a local guide to trek to Shipara Homestay at Nongriat village in the same district.

Parking lot at Mawlakhiat village in East Khasi Hills

May 23, morning: Mawlakhiat, East Khasi Hills district

The couple checked out from Shipara Homestay and returned to Mawlakhiat village without the guide. The same day they set out from Mawlakhiat and went missing thereafter. A search began in the surrounding areas. The guide told the police the couple informed him they would manage by themselves and did not use his service for the return trek to Mawlakhiat.

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May 24: Sohrarim

The headman of Sohrarim village in East Khasi Hills reported to the police that they found an abandoned scooty at their village.

NDRF personnel at a search operation in Sohrarim

May 25: Sohrarim

The police traced the scooty owner, who came to Sohra police station and confirmed that a couple from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore – Raja Raghuvanshi, 27, and Sonam, 25 – rented the two-wheeler.

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May 26: Sohrarim

A search began in this area too.

A search team member going to a gorge where the body of Raja Raghuvanshi was found

June 2: Wei Sawdong Falls

A police drone spotted a body in a gorge below Wei Sawdong Falls. The semi-decomposed body was retrieved and was identified as that of Raja Raghuvanshi by his family.

Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. A Madhya Pradesh man, Raja Raghuvanshi, was found dead in Meghalaya after going missing with his wife, Sonam, during their honeymoon. An audio clip of Sonam before their disappearance has gone viral as the search for her continues.

The body of a Madhya Pradesh man, who was on a honeymoon in Meghalaya, was found after 11 days on Monday, with the police suspecting he was murdered with a machete. The victim, Raja Raghuvanshi, and his wife, Sonam, both from Indore, went missing on May 23. The search for the woman is underway.

An audio clip has now gone viral of the purported conversation between Sonam and her mother-in-law, reportedly hours before they went missing.

The couple, who arrived at Mawlakhiat village on a rented scooter, had trekked 3,000 steps down the gorge to visit the famous living rootbridges at Nongriat village.

In the audio clip, the mother-in-law can be heard asking her, “How are you, daughter?”.

“I was preparing food, and I remembered that today is your fast. You have fasted, right?” she asked her.

Sonam, in response, can be heard saying, “Yes. I clearly told them that I will not break my fast because of travelling.”

The mother-in-law then told her to have some food, to which Sonam, who said she was trekking at that time, “won’t get anything in the jungle”.

“You are panting,” the mother-in-law then told Sonam as she was trying to catch her breath during the two-minute call.

“It was a tough trek,” Sonam purportedly said. “I’ll call you after climbing,” she added.

NDTV cannot confirm the authenticity of the audio clip.

According to police, the couple arrived in Mawlakhiat village on May 22 and then went to Nongriat, where they stayed the night.

They left the homestay the following morning, and on May 24, their scooter was found outside a cafe along the road from Shillong to Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji.

The body of 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi was recovered in a gorge some 20 kilometres from the Nongriat village. His brother identified his body through a tattoo on his right hand that read ‘Raja’.

Police said that a woman’s white shirt, a strip of medicine, a part of the LCD screen of a mobile phone and a smartwatch were also seized at the spot.

The body of 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on Monday, several days after the tourist from Indore and his wife had gone missing, officials said.

Raja and his wife Sonam disappeared on May 23 hours after they checked out of a homestay at Nongriat village, 20 km from where his body was found, they said.

”A police drone spotted the body in a deep gorge below the Weisawdong waterfall parking lot. The body was taken to the parking lot for a magisterial inquest in the evening,” a senior district official told PTI.

He said the inquest was carried out in the presence of independent witnesses from the area.

”The relatives of the deceased identified the body as that of Raja Raghuvanshi through a distinctive tattoo on the deceased’s right hand which read ‘Raja’,” he said.

A woman’s white shirt, a strip of medicine, a part of the LCD screen of a mobile phone and a smartwatch were also seized at the spot, the official said.

The body was later taken to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for post-mortem examination.

East Khasi Hills district Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem said a case of murder has been registered and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the incident.

Rescuers will continue to look for Raja’s wife, Sonam, he said.

Extremely heavy rainfall and low visibility had on May 30 stalled the search and rescue operations, which was launched by the police on May 24.

Sohra area recorded the maximum amount of rainfall in the state on May 29, 30 and 31, recording around 500 mm of rainfall, equalling the annual rainfall record of Mysore, a Met official told PTI.

Movement of traffic was also affected across the eastern Khasi and Jaintia Hills region with many places reporting landslides and flash floods that killed six persons and left over 10 people injured.

The couple, hailing from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, arrived at Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter.

They parked their scooter and trekked 3,000 steps down the gorge to visit the famous living rootbridges at Nongriat village, where they stayed the night and left the homestay the following morning.

On May 24, their scooter was found abandoned at a cafe along the road from Shillong to Sohra following which the police were informed and by Sunday, the initial search operation was planned with the help of the local villagers, police said.

Indore MPs — Shankar Lalwani and Sumer Singh Solanki — had held reviews of the rescue operations with Director General of Police I Nongrang and Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, expressing satisfaction over the efforts of the rescue teams.

Earlier this year, a Hungarian tourist — Puskas Zsolt — went missing soon after he started his trek to the living rootbridge and he was found dead 12 days later.

While the police have ruled out any foul play in his death, medical reports indicated he died due to a fall.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

ETV Bharat / bharat

Decomposed Body Of Indore Tourist Who Went Missing On Honeymoon Found In Shillong

Indore: The decomposed body of 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area of Shillong in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on Monday, several days after the tourist from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and his wife had gone missing, officials said.

Raja and his wife, Sonam, disappeared on May 23, hours after they checked out of a homestay at Nongriat village, 20 km from where his body was found, they said. “A police drone spotted the body in a deep gorge below the Weisawdong waterfall parking lot. The body was taken to the parking lot for a magisterial inquest in the evening,” a senior district official said, adding the inquest was carried out in the presence of independent witnesses from the area.

“The relatives of the deceased identified the body as that of Raja Raghuvanshi through a distinctive tattoo on the right hand, which read ‘Raja’,” he said.

A woman’s white shirt, a strip of medicine, a part of the LCD screen of a mobile phone and a smartwatch were also seized at the spot, the official said. The body was later taken to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for an autopsy.

Vivek Syiem, East Khasi Hills district Superintendent of Police, said a case of murder has been registered and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the incident. Rescuers will continue looking for the deceased’s wife, Sonam, he added.

Extremely heavy rainfall and low visibility on May 30 had stalled the search and rescue operations, launched by the police the day after the couple disappeared.

Sohra area recorded the maximum amount of rainfall in the state on May 29, 30 and 31, recording around 500 mm of rainfall, equalling the annual rainfall record of Mysore in Karnataka. Movement of traffic was also affected across the eastern Khasi and Jaintia Hills region, with many places reporting landslides and flash floods that killed six people and left over 10 people injured.

Nandini Chiplunkar, has been duped of Rs 1.02 crores through a digital arrest scam. The scam involved fraudsters claiming to be from Mumbai’s Colaba Police and CBI, alleging that Ms Chiplunkar was involved in financial dealings with Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways and money laundering.

According to Additional DCP of Crime Branch, Rajesh Dandotiya, on April 27, Ms Chiplunkar received a call stating that her SIM would be deactivated. The fraudsters claimed that there were 267 FIRs against her and kept her under digital arrest for two days. They convinced her to deposit Rs 1 crore in a fake account in exchange for closing the case.

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While speaking to ANI on Monday, DCP Dandotiya said, “On April 27th, Nandini, who retired as principal of Central School, received a call saying that her SIM was going to get deactivated…they said there was legal action being taken against her and there are 267 an FIRs against her…throughout the night she was kept on digital arrest…”

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However, when Ms Chiplunkar went to the bank to break her fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakhs, the bank manager suspected something was amiss and informed the Crime Branch. The officials intervened, and Ms Chiplunkar was able to save her fixed deposit money.

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“Next day they managed to convince her and she went to break her fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakhs… The bank manager realised that there is some trouble by looking at her face, he said that the server is down and asked her to come back next day and then the Bank Manager immediately informed me…later, I spoke to her and convinced that it was a fake call, and she was convinced…She switched off her phone. But, after two days, she started receiving calls again. We met her and explained to her that such digital arrest calls are fake…she lost Rs 1.02 crores, but because the bank was alert, she didn’t lose her fixed deposit money…”, DCP Dandotiya added.

The Crime Branch has taken Ms Chiplunkar’s complaint and is investigating the matter. No case has been filed yet, and the authorities are working to identify the accused.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)