Sonam Raghuvanshi's father says, 'My daughter is innocent', accuses Meghalaya Police of cover-up

Sonam Raghuvanshi's father on Monday staunchly defended her, claiming she is innocent and that the Meghalaya Police are framing her to hide their own investigative failures.

Sonam, who had been missing since her husband Raja Raghuvanshi's body was discovered in a deep gorge in Meghalaya, surrendered early Monday morning at Nandganj police station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district.

According to the Meghalaya Police, she surrendered under pressure and was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband by hiring contract killers. Her surrender brought the total number of arrests in the case to four, while one accused remains at large.

However, her father, Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, has rubbished the police's version of events.

"She asked a dhaba owner for a phone. The dhaba owner gave her a mobile phone, then she called her brother, Govind. Govind then called the police at night, and the police arrived. This happened around 2 a.m. I haven't spoken to Sonam yet; only Govind has spoken to her. He called me and said that Sonam has been found and she was crying," Devi Singh told reporters.

Calling the murder allegations "false", he accused the Meghalaya Police of making "baseless claims" to cover up their own "mishandling" of the case.

"The Meghalaya Police are making baseless claims because they did not do any inquiry. Why would she do anything like this? The police are lying. I 100 per cent believe that my child could not do such a thing. I know her well," he said.

He further demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah order a CBI inquiry into the case, and asserted that if a proper investigation is conducted, "the entire police there (Meghalaya Police) will be found out to be responsible for all this."

Meanwhile, Meghalaya IGP Dalton P. Marak confirmed Sonam's surrender and arrest in a telephonic conversation with IANS, stating, "Sonam surrendered under pressure last night, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to four. One accused remains absconding. Sonam will be brought back to Meghalaya for court proceedings."

Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash also confirmed that Sonam was located at the Kashi Dhaba on the Varanasi-Ghazipur main road and was then sent to Sadar Hospital for initial medical examination. She is currently housed at the One Stop Centre in the district.

Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K. Sangma also acknowledged the breakthrough in the case.

Taking to X, he posted. "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 operation still on to catch 1 more assailant.. well done."

The couple, Raja and Sonam, had arrived in Meghalaya for their honeymoon and were exploring various locations when they went missing on May 23.

Ten days later, Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge beneath the Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang. A machete, suspected to be the murder weapon, was found nearby.

At the time, Sonam had also gone missing, prompting a multi-state search.