Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong assured that a number of accused in the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi have confessed to the crime. He also claimed that the victim’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, is “fully involved” in the case.
“All the accused have been arrested from different locations, one from Madhya Pradesh, the other from Uttar Pradesh. An SIT of Meghalaya Police descended to these two locations. Others have even admitted to the crime they had committed. The very moment we could select Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime suspect in the murder, we all realized that she is also deeply involved in this operation while staying here in Meghalaya,” Tynsong explained to reporters.
Confessions and Key Evidence
As per Indore Crime Branch ACP Poonamchand Yadav, the four accused — 19-year-old Akash Rajput, 22-year-old Vishal Singh Chauhan, 21-year-old Raj Singh Kushwaha, and Anand Kurmi — have accepted their involvement in the murder. “We have found the clothes that he (Vishal Chauhan) used to wear while he was in Shillong on the day of the incident. They have admitted to having committed the murder. We are searching for his mobile,” Yadav told Hindustan Times.
Yadav further told India Today TV that the accused revealed Raja Raghuvanshi’s wife, Sonam, was present at the murder scene and “watched her husband die.”
Sonam’s Alleged Role and Arrest
Reports indicate Sonam was so set on her husband’s death reportedly so focused that she had decided to push him off a mountain herself if the contract killers were unsuccessful. She is then said to have driven from Shillong to Guwahati and from there to Indore by train after committing the crime, where she arrived by May 27, according to information provided by the Meghalaya Police to their counterparts in Indore.
Sonam allegedly visited Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, the home town of accused Raj Kushwaha on May 28, where she was eventually arrested on June 9.
All four accused were taken to Shillong on Wednesday for further investigation after police secured their seven-day transit remand. Sonam Raghuvanshi was also detained at Shillong Sadar Police Station.
In a sensational incident at Indore’s Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, one of the accused was slapped by another passenger. A video of the scuffle went viral soon.
Families React to Murder
Raj Kushwaha’s mother has cried out for her son’s innocence. In an interview with ANI, she said, “My son is not like that; he can never do something like this. He is also very young and accustomed to looking after his three sisters since his father’s death. He began working at Govind’s (brother of Sonam Raghuvanshi) office. My husband died in 2020. Raj has looked after our family since then. Save my son, this is my only request. I do not know anything about any relationship between Sonam and my son. My son is being trapped. I have no idea who’s responsible for this. I can’t even go to Meghalaya; I don’t have anyone to go with me.”
In the meantime, police added that Sonam continued to keep in touch with Raj Kushwaha even after her wedding. On May 16, Raj is said to have talked about the killing plan with his cousin Vishal Chauhan and friends Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi at a restaurant in Indore. The trio went to Meghalaya the next day with Rs. 50,000 and a mobile phone given by Raj, who stayed back in Indore working at the factory owned by Sonam’s brother.
