All five accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, including wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, will be produced before a Shillong court as their eight-day police custody ends. Meghalaya Police are expected to seek an extension to continue questioning the accused after reconstructing the crime scene, a key step in strengthening evidence in the high-profile honeymoon murder investigation.
Shillong: All the five accused in the Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi murder case will be presented in the District and Sessions Court in Shillong on Thursday as eight days of their police custody will be over, officials said here on Wednesday.
A senior police officer said that all five accused, including Raja’s wife Sonam Raghuvanshi would be reproduced in the District and Sessions Court in Shillong on Thursday seeking further extension of their police custody.
“We need the police custody of all the accused to further interrogate them about the case,” the official said.
Raja Raghuvanshi (28) and his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi (24) went missing on May 23 in Sohra (Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district, hours after checking out of a homestay at Nongriat village.
After their arrest, all the five accused — Sonam and four others — Raj Singh Kushwaha, 21 (Sonam’s alleged lover), Anand Singh Kurmi, 23, Akash Rajput, 19, and Vishal Singh Chauhan, 22 were presented at the District and Session Court in Shillong on June 11.
The court sent all five accused to eight days’ police custody.
Sonam and Raja got married in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) on May 11 and reached Meghalaya via Guwahati on May 20 for their honeymoon.
The decomposed body of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi was found from a gorge below the Wei Sawdong parking lot at Sohra-Cherrapunji areas in East Khasi Hills district on June 2, eight days after the couple went ‘missing’ during their honeymoon tour from the popular tourist destination in the northeastern state.
After the recovery of Raja’s body, Meghalaya Police formed the Special Investigation Teams (SITs) and changed its course of investigation and arrested all five accused in the murder case.
The three SIT teams of Meghalaya Police separately questioned the five accused and on Tuesday took them to Sohra (Cherrapunji), about 65 km from Shillong, and reconstructed the crime scene as part of the investigations into the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, said that crime scene reconstruction sheds more light on the murder case. All the five accused would be reproduced in the District and Session Court in Shillong on Thursday by the police seeking further extension of their police custody, an official said.
The case has attracted nationwide attention because of its unusual timeline. Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam arrived in Meghalaya for their honeymoon shortly after their marriage. Their disappearance in Sohra was initially treated as a missing persons case before the discovery of Raja’s body transformed the investigation into a murder probe. (Edited)