Honeymoon murder case: Sonam, four others sent to 8-day police custody by Meghalaya court

A Meghalaya court on Wednesday sent all five accused in the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case, including the victim's wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, to eight days' police custody.

Amidst the heavy security arrangements, the accused in the sensational murder case were produced before the district and session court in Shillong on Wednesday, 10 days after the body of Sonam’s husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, was recovered.

A police official said that after completion of various medical and legal formalities, the accused were produced before the court with a prayer for their eight-day custody for further interrogation and investigation of the case.

Sonam, 24, the prime accused, was brought in Shillong late on Tuesday night while four other accused -- Raj Singh Kushwaha, 21, her alleged lover and the mastermind, along with Anand Singh Kurmi, 23, Akash Rajput, 19, and Vishal Singh Chauhan, 22, - were brought to the Meghalaya capital on Wednesday.

The police official said that all five accused, including Sonam, were taken to hospitals in Shillong for their medical checkup.

Deputy Inspector General, Eastern Range, Davis N.R. Marak said: "So far, we have learned that all of them during interrogation have more or less confessed to being involved in the crime."

"There has been no proper cross-examination so far. After the court order, we would begin interrogations in police custody," Marak told IANS.

"Right now, they’re all blaming each other. Only after thorough questioning would we be able to ascertain who the mastermind is and what exactly transpired."

Sonam was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, during their honeymoon tour in Meghalaya’s Sohra-Cherrapunji areas of the East Khasi Hills district.

Days after her husband's body was discovered, Sonam surrendered before police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on June 7, and was taken to Patna by road, then flown to Kolkata and onward to Guwahati. From Guwahati airport, she was brought to the Sadar police station in Shillong by road late on Tuesday night.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, stated that the Meghalaya Police earlier obtained transit remands of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi had tied the knot on May 11, nine days before they departed for their honeymoon tour in mountainous Meghalaya. On May 23, the newlywed couple had gone missing in the Sohra-Cherrapunji areas, leading to the launch of a hectic search operation by the Meghalaya Police, the National Disaster Response Force, local people and other agencies. The murder came to light after locals found an abandoned two-wheeler, which the couple had hired from Shillong, at Sohrarim village between Shillong and Sohra Road.

On June 2, Raja’s body was recovered from a deep gorge below the Wei Sawdong parking lot at Riat Arliang in Sohra, sending shockwaves across the country, and a new twist in the case emerged.

The Meghalaya Police formed Special Investigation Teams and launched ‘Operation Honeymoon’, and several teams went to Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and with the help of the police of the two states, successfully arrested the five accused.

All five accused would now face further investigation under the jurisdiction of the Meghalaya Police.

According to Meghalaya Police, Sonam, together with three others, after allegedly committing the murder of her husband, left Sohra and boarded a train to Indore from Guwahati, around 100 km from Shillong. Sonam went to Indore and stayed at a rented place and then fled to Uttar Pradesh, the police had said.

Police suspect that Sonam and the other accused were trying to flee to Nepal and so reached Ghazipur from where the Nepal border is around 200 km.

East Khasi Hills SP Syiem had earlier said that after completion of the necessary legal formalities, all the accused would be taken to the crime spot in a day or two for reconstruction of the crime.