Raj Kushwaha, one of the accused arrested for Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder in Meghalaya and Sonam Kushwaha’s alleged lover, drove a vehicle to transport people to the victim’s funeral, said an eyewitness. Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was found on June 2 from a deep gorge near Wei Sawdong Falls in Sohra.(ANI )

On Monday, the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi took a dramatic turn following a series of arrests. Among those arrested are Raja’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, who has been accused by the Meghalaya police of orchestrating his murder.

One of the people who went to attend Raja Raghuvanshi’s funeral, Lakshman Singh Rathore, said Kushwaha, Sonam’s alleged boyfriend, had driven the vehicle arranged by her family.

“When Raja’s body arrived here, Sonam’s family, whose home is in Govind Nagar Kharcha area, had arranged four-five vehicles for people to attend the funeral. Kushwaha was driving the four-wheeler in which I went, though we did not talk. Only after seeing his photograph in the media post his arrest, I recollected this episode,” he said, reported PTI.

Also read: UP cop says ‘poor planner’ Sonam Raghuvanshi presented herself as victim: ‘Claimed she was drugged’

Raja Raghuvanshi murder case

Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi got married on May 11 and went for their honeymoon in Meghalaya just days later. On May 23, the couple went missing, prompting search operations for both of them. However, on June 2, Raja’s body was recovered in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.

Also read: Meghalaya murder: How a couple’s first trip to the hills set the stage for a killing

Out of the three men arrested in connection with Raja’s murder, one was arrested from Uttar Pradesh and the other two from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. “The first person arrested was Rajput from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The second was Chauhan from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The third was Kushwaha, also from Indore,” East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said at a press conference in Shillong on Monday.

Sonam was arrested from a dhaba in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on Monday, where she allegedly attempted to mislead UP police by claiming that she had been brought to Ghazipur after being drugged. She is accused of conspiring with Kushwaha to murder her husband.

“Kushwaha was in contact with the killers for some weeks,” said an Indore police officer, who is aware of the questioning of Raj Kushwaha and Chauhan. The three hired killers, the officer said, left Indore for Meghalaya on May 17 with ₹50,000 and a mobile phone provided by Kushwaha. Once there, they allegedly chose a spot to kill Raghuvanshi and dispose of his body.

Sonam’s family, however, has denied her involvement in the murder and has asked for a CBI inquiry into the matter.

With PTI inputs