In a major breakthrough in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, investigators have found his "missing" wife, Sonam, alive in Uttar Pradesh. The sleuths believe that Sonam got her 29-year-old husband murdered in Meghalaya using hired muscle to reunite with her lover.
While several details remain to be uncovered in the controversial case, finding Sonam alive is a major boost for the Meghalaya Police, who were under immense pressure from Raja Raghuvanshi's family. According to reports, 24-year-old Sonam was picked up when she tried to contact her brother from a roadside stall on the Varanasi-Ghazipur main road in Uttar Pradesh.
She reportedly reached Kashi Dhaba in Ghazipur around 1 a.m. and requested the shop owner for a phone. She then informed her brother that she was in Uttar Pradesh and wanted him to pick her up. If the fact that a wailing young woman was alone on the main road at night wasn't enough, her poor condition—likely due to the tiresome, long journey from the Northeast—was hard to miss for the dhaba owner. While he allowed her to make the phone call, he tipped off the local police using an alternate line, Times of India (TOI) said in a report.
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Sonam was soon escorted to the police station, and the Kashi Dhaba proprietor is known to have provided no further information. Both Indore and Meghalaya police officials are en route to Ghazipur ahead of taking Sonam back to Shillong for further investigation. However, it remains a mystery how she reached Uttar Pradesh.
Raja Raghuvanshi's murder in Meghalaya: The story so far
Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam were reported missing on May 23, Friday, not long after they checked out from a homestay in Nongriat village, where they were honeymooning. The decomposed body of the man was recovered on Monday from a gorge near the Weisawdong Falls, almost 20 km away from the hospitality facility.
During the investigation, police discovered that Raja Raghuvanshi did not die from a fall but was hacked to death with a machete. The recovered weapon was brand new and likely brought to the scene specifically to commit the crime. His mobile phone was also recovered.
Raja’s body was identified by his brother, who recognized a tattoo on his right hand.
The police now maintain that Raj Kushwaha, who knew Sonam Raghuvanshi before her marriage, helped plot the murder. Reports said he was her boyfriend and that the duo wanted to get rid of Sonam's husband to reunite. Police said three men hired by Sonam to kill Raja were arrested in overnight raids. One of them was arrested in Uttar Pradesh, while the other two were nabbed from Indore. They were identified as Vicky Thakur, Anand, and Akash.
More people involved in the murder are being traced in Madhya Pradesh.
