Twist in Indore man’s murder during Meghalaya honeymoon; police say wife Sonam hired killers, arrested

Eighteen days after a couple from Madhya Pradesh vanished during their honeymoon in Meghalaya – and a week post the discovery of the husband Raja Raghuvanshi’s body alongside a murder weapon – police have apprehended three attackers from Madhya Pradesh, and the wife, Sonam, has turned herself in.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma verified this in a post on Monday morning.  “Within 7 days, a major breakthrough has been achieved by the Meghalaya Police in the Raja murder case… 3 assailants who are from Madhya Pradesh have been arrested, female has surrendered, and the operation is still on to catch one more assailant.”

Meghalaya DGP Idashisha Nongrang said that Sonam had allegedly hired men to murder her husband. She surrendered in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district on Sunday.

“One person was picked up from UP, and another two accused were apprehended from Indore by the SIT. The arrested accused have named some more persons. They revealed that the victim’s wife had hired them… Sonam surrendered at the Nandganj police station in UP, and was subsequently arrested,” the DGP was quoted as saying by PTI.

The recovery of his body, along with the retrieval of a dao (a local cutting tool) that authorities identified as a murder weapon, changed the direction of this case. The police formed a Special Investigation Team headed by SP (City) East Khasi Hills Herbert Pynniaid Kharkongor to look into the suspected murder. While Sonam had been absent until her return, authorities had gradually been uncovering a series of clues, such as CCTV recordings from different locations the couple visited.