Raja’s Killers Planned To Kill Someone Else, Pass Off Body As Sonam’s: Cops
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Raja’s Killers Planned To Kill Someone Else, Pass Off Body As Sonam’s: Cops
Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was found in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2. His wife Sonam was found hiding in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, around 1,200 km away. Sonam’s alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha and three others – Vishal, Akash and Anand – were arrested in connection with Raja’s killing. Police say they had a plan to murder any woman and burn her body to pass it as that of Sonam so that she would be able to be in hiding for a few more days till the truth is known. The group had come a few days before the newly-wed couple reached Assam on May 19 and they had initially planned to eliminate Raja somewhere in Guwahati. But when that did not work for some reason, Sonam planned to go to Shillong and Sohra, and according to understanding, all met at Nongriat, the officer said. They all three hit Raja with a machete they bought in Assam and killed him on May 23.
The police also found out that Raj Kushwaha, a suspected boyfriend of Sonam, was the mastermind in the murder plot, and she is the co-conspirator.
On the first day of interrogation of Sonam, Raj and three others, who were arrested in connection with the killing of the Raja Raghuvanshi, also revealed that she fled from Meghalaya in a burqa and reached the Madhya Pradesh city using various modes of transport like taxi, bus and train.
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“The conspiracy to eliminate Raja was hatched in Indore, shortly before his wedding with Sonam on May 11, and the mastermind is Raj while the woman had agreed to the plot,” East Khasi Hills district Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem told PTI.
A few days after the wedding, Raja (29) and Sonam (24) had come to picturesque Sohra in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district and went missing on May 23. His body was found in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2, while a search continued for Sonam.
She emerged in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, around 1,200 km away, in the early hours of June 9 and surrendered. The police had also arrested her alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha and three others – Vishal, Akash and Anand – who, till now, were suspected to have been contract killers.
“The three young people were friends, and one of them is a cousin of Raj. It was not a typical contract killing. Yes, the plan was to kill and they did it as a favour to their friend Raj,” Syiem said.
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Raj had given them Rs 50,000 for the expenditures, he said.
The planning started in February in Indore and they had thought of ways about how Sonam would disappear after the killing of Raja.
“One plan was to make people believe that she would wash away by a river. Another plan was to murder any woman, burn the body and claim that it was of Sonam. However, none of the plans fructify,” the police officer said.
The group had come a few days before the newly-wed couple reached Assam on May 19 and they had initially planned to eliminate Raja somewhere in Guwahati.
As that did not work for some reason, Sonam planned to go to Shillong and Sohra, and according to understanding, all met at Nongriat, the officer said.
Syiem said they started together for Weisawdong Falls, and there all three hit Raja with a machete they bought in Assam and killed him in front of Sonam between 2 pm and 2.18 pm on May 23 before throwing the body in a gorge.
Sonam gave Akash the raincoat she was wearing as his shirt had a blood spot. They left Weisawdong on scooters, and Akash threw the raincoat later as it too had blood stains. They also abandoned the two-wheeler hired by Sonam and Raja at a place, the SP said.
The police recovered the raincoat and the two-wheeler when Sonam was thought to have been missing.
“Raj had given Vishal a burqa which he has handed over to Sonam. She wore it, went to the Police Bazaar and took a taxi to Guwahati. From Guwahati, she reached Siliguri (in West Bengal) on a bus. From there, she took buses to go to Patna and Arah and boarded a train for Lucknow. From Lucknow, Sonam took a bus and reached Indore,” he said.
In the meantime, Meghalaya media interviewed a tour guide who said he had seen Sonam and Raja with three people.
Raj told Sonam to leave Indore and emerge somewhere in Siliguri and claim herself as a victim of abduction.
But on June 8, when Sonam had left Indore, two police teams from Meghalaya reached UP and Madhya Pradesh in civil dress.
Photo Credit: PTI
“When the first arrest (Akash) was made in UP, Raj panicked and told Sonam to call up her family and tell them she just escaped from an abduction gang. That’s how this whole thing came to light in Ghazipur,” Syiem said.
They had thought that Raja’s body would not be discovered as it was remote and the police enquiry would take one to two months. So she thought of playing the victim card.
“We are recording their statements. We are questioning them. We will gather more evidence and reconstruct the crime scene,” Syiem said.
The officer said the police are confident to file a charge sheet in the case within the mandatory 90 days.
All five were remanded to eight days of police custody on Wednesday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
“Sonam Raghuvanshi Used Burqa To Escape, Was In Indore When Raja’s Body Was Found”: Cop
Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was retrieved from a 200-foot deep gorge on June 2. Wife Sonam surrendered at a police station in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Monday. The newly-wed couple went missing from a village near Sohra (Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on May 23. Sonam, 24, was in love with Raj Kushwaha, 21, and had warned her family of “consequences” if she was pressured to marry Raja Raghvanshi, police sources said. The three killers were Raj’s friends, and one among them is his cousin, a police officer told NDTV. The plan to murder Raja was made 11 days before his marriage, the officer said, adding that Sonam was his partner in crime. The couple were married in Guwahati on May 11.
The Meghalaya Police would take all five accused in the case to the crime spot at Sohra-Cherrapunji areas of the East Khasi Hills district next week for reconstruction of the crime, officials said.
The newly-wed couple – Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi – from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore went missing from a village near Sohra (Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on May 23, two days after they landed in the northeastern state on their honeymoon. They were married on May 11.
The man’s body was retrieved from a 200-foot deep gorge on June 2. Wife Sonam, said police, surrendered at a police station in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Monday.
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“The murder was planned right before Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam’s wedding. Raj Kushwaha is the mastermind behind this and Sonam is his partner in crime. The three killers were Raj’s friends, and one among them is his cousin,” Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, Syiem Vivek, who is overseeing the investigation, told NDTV.
“Since February this year, the planning was going on about how to make Sonam disappear. Two ideas were under consideration to make her disappear: first, Sonam should be shown jumping into the river; second, someone should be murdered and the body should be burnt presented as Sonam’s. But the accused could not implement these plans. The plan to murder Raja was made 11 days before his marriage,” said the officer.
Sonam Raghuvanshi, 24, was in love with Raj Kushwaha, 21, and had warned her family of “consequences” if she was pressured to marry Raja Raghuvanshi, police sources said.
As per the preliminary autopsy report, Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, was hit twice, once each on the back and front of his head.
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“This is not a contract killing, however, an investigation regarding the same is underway. Raj had paid the three hitmen Rs 50,000 each,” said the police officer.
Raja Raghuvanshi was told by his wife Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, investigators had said on Wednesday.
“When Sonam and Raja reached Guwahati to visit Kamakhya after marriage, the killers had already reached Guwahati on 19 May. Their initial plan was to kill Raja in Guwahati itself. But Sonam had planned to go to Shillong and Sohra. Therefore, this plan was shelved,” said the officer.
“After that, they reached Nongriat. Thereafter, all of them attacked Raja and killed him and hid his body. They left soon after,” said the officer.
After this, the officer said, Sonam wore a burqa offered by one of the hitmen and reached Guwahati in a taxi.
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“Then from Guwahati she took a bus and went to Siliguri, from Siliguri she went to Patna, from Patna she took a bus to Ara, from Ara she took a train to Lucknow, from Lucknow she took a bus to Indore,” said the officer, detailing her movements after the murder.
“After the three hitmen were arrested, Sonam was told by Raj to leave Indore and tell her family that she was kidnapped,” said the officer.
The day Raja’s body was found, on June 2, Sonam was in Indore, said the officer. Sonam was in Indore from June 25 to 8, the officer said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Meghalaya police is probing the sensational murder.