Meghalaya murder: Police recreate crime scene with Sonam, 3 alleged killers
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Meghalaya murder: Police recreate crime scene with Sonam, 3 alleged killers
The Meghalaya police took four of the five accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, including his wife Sonam, to Sohra on Tuesday. Police also came to know about the use of a second weapon in the murder and teams are now trying to retrieve it from the crime scene. The reconstruction was done at five places, starting from Mawlakhiat (village) up to Wei Sawdong (Falls) parking lot, where the crime was committed. Police found that there was an attempt to kill Raja nearly 3-4 km away, but that didn’t materialise as the victim started his scooter to leave the place. According to the reconstruction, Sonam was in front when Raja was hit and the other three assailants were behind the victim. And when the three alleged killers threw the first blow on the first head when the blood came out and Sonam moved away from the scene, Raja’s body was lifted into the gorge.
While the three alleged killers— Akash, Vishal and Anand– were taken by police to Sohra along with Sonam, her alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, was not taken there.
Police also came to know about the use of a second weapon in the murder and teams are now trying to retrieve it from the crime scene. Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi was murdered on May 23 at Sohra, nearly 50 km from state capital Shillong.
His body was recovered on June 2. One machete, the first murder weapon, was found on June 3. The three alleged killers, Sonam, and her alleged boyfriend, , who is suspected to be the mastermind behind the killing, were arrested on June 8-9 from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
“The whole reconstruction of the murder has been played out today. We have got a very clear picture. We have recorded videography and had independent witnesses to cover the event. The reconstruction was very successful,” Vivek Syiem, police superintendent of East Khasi Hills district, where the murder took place, told journalists at the scene of the crime.
He said that the reconstruction was done at five places, starting from Mawlakhiat (village) up to Wei Sawdong (Falls) parking lot, (all falling under Sohra police station), where the crime was committed.
“This reconstruction has been based on the interrogations we have been conducting over the last few days. In the interrogations, they (the accused) have admitted to the offence and we just had to replay, recast how they had done it,” Syiem said.
The reconstruction began from the Mawlakhiat parking lot where they had kept their scooters. Police found that there was an attempt to kill Raja nearly 3-4 km away from the Wei Sawdong parking lot, but that didn’t materialise as the victim started his scooter to leave the place.
“Finally they reached the Wei Sawdong parking lot where they kept their scooters and made an ingress into the view point (of the falls). A personnel from the fire department assumed the role of Raja (to reconstruct the scene) and we ascertained the positions of each of the accused and the deceased just before the murder and where and how the blows took place,” said Syeim.
“The first blow was by Vishal Chauhan, the second by Anand Kurmi and the last one was by Akash Thakur. We have ascertained that there was one more machete (apart from the one that was recovered) which we still need to recover (from the gorge). They have replayed how they threw away the two machetes,” he added.
While the first machete was recovered on June 3, the state disaster response force (SDRF) is trying to recover the weapon using hand-held metal detectors. Akash showed the police from where he had thrown his blood stained white shirt, which was found near Raja’s body on June 2. Sonam’s mobile phone was first damaged by Sonam and later by Vishal, and disposed off.
Syiem said that the first blow by Vishal was the hardest and the last one by Anand had the least impact. According to the reconstruction, Sonam was in front when Raja was hit and the other three assailants were behind the victim. After the first blow on the head when blood came out and Raja started screaming, Sonam moved away from the spot. And when Raja was dead, the three alleged killers lifted the body and threw it down into the gorge.
“The investigation hasn’t ended. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the motive is love triangle, but we are trying to explore if there’s anything more… Sonam has already admitted to this whole scheme of things. She had given a signal to the trio right before reaching the Wei Sawdong parking lot that they should finish off the job,” he said.
The SP said that a Meghalaya Police team is at present in Indore. They have gone to the flat where Sonam was kept (after she reached there from Meghalaya). They have conducted a search of the flat, which was found empty. The team will be camping in Indore to further the investigation.