GUWAHATI: The men accused of killing Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi -- allegedly at the request of his wife and her boyfriend -- posed as tourists while briefly staying at a Guwahati lodge, according to the lodge management.
Speaking to TNIE, lodge manager Himanta Kalita said the alleged killers — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi — checked in on May 19 at 8:30 pm and left early the next morning at 5:30 am.
“They said they were tourists from Indore. We followed all the necessary formalities before allotting a room to them. They furnished their identity proof including Aadhaar cards. We have already shared the documents with the crime branch of the police. We don’t give rooms to people if they cannot provide identity proof,” Kalita said.
On June 3, a day after Raghuvanshi’s decomposed body was recovered from a deep gorge in the Sohra area (also known as Cherrapunji), Meghalaya Police recovered a machete, suspected to have been purchased in Guwahati and used in the murder.
Kalita said the three accused had backpacks when they checked into the lodge. “But we didn’t find them carrying any ‘dao’ (machete). There was nothing suspicious in their behaviour,” he said.
“The Meghalaya Police have called me. I am leaving for Shillong,” he added.
A Meghalaya Police team, assisted by Assam Police, raided the lodge located in Guwahati’s Pan Bazar area on Wednesday. They searched the room where the trio had stayed and recorded the statements of lodge employees.
A Shillong court on Wednesday sent the three accused along with Sonam and her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha to an eight-day police remand.
The Meghalaya police are likely to bring Sonam to her hometown Indore, where the conspiracy of the crime was hatched, a police official said.
The Meghalaya police have named their investigation in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case as 'Operation Honeymoon'.
Notably, Raja (29) and Sonam (24) got married in Indore on May 11 and went missing during their honeymoon trip to Meghalaya on May 23. Raja's body was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area on June 2.
Sonam, who was initially reported missing in Meghalaya, surfaced in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on Sunday night where she surrendered after her alleged accomplices Akash (19), Vishal (22), and Anand were arrested for their alleged role in conspiring and killing Raghuvanshi.
Kushwaha (21), the alleged co-conspirator, was arrested later.
A police official associated with the investigations said in Shillong that Raja was told by Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
Accordingly, Raja planned their trip to Guwahati and adjacent Meghalaya for the honeymoon, while his wife and her boyfriend Kushwaha allegedly plotted to kill him in the jungles of the north-eastern state, considering its perceived remoteness, he said.
"Sonam coerced her husband to take her to the deep jungles of Nongriat with the belief that the hitmen she hired would have a better chance of killing him somewhere on the route, considering it is secluded. But, since there were too many tourists trekking to Nongriat on May 22 and May 23, they couldn't kill him there," the officer said.
"They finally killed him near Weisawdong Falls, and dumped his body into a deep gorge," the officer added.
East Khasi Hills SP Syiem, overseeing the investigation, said the contract killers arrived in Guwahati on May 19 and procured a machete from outside their hotel and then travelled by road to Shillong.
"We have gathered CCTV evidence, making this investigation a very tight-knit one," the SP said.
Sonam was in touch with her boyfriend throughout the day of the murder, while Raj coordinated with the three contract killers, he said.
"Sonam was present when Raja was killed," the officer said.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya government felicitated the search and rescue team that played a key role in recovering Raja’s body.
A total cash award of Rs 5.4 lakh was distributed among 36 members of the team, including the Tour Guide Association of Meghalaya (Central Body and Sohra unit), local guides, and the West Jaintia Hills Adventure Sports & Mountaineering Association. Government personnel, including police, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, and administrative staff, were presented with certificates of appreciation.
