Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Meghalaya Police have revealed a disturbing twist in the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi. Investigators say the killers had also planned to murder an unknown woman, burn her body, and claim it was Raja’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, to give her more time to stay hidden, while Raja’s body was being decomposed.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, said that Raj Kushwaha was the mastermind behind the murder and Sonam was his co-conspirator.
3 murder attempts had failed earlier
The entire conspiracy was planned in Indore, three months before Raja’s wedding. According to police, there were three other murder plans that failed before Raja was eventually killed.
The accused told police that planning began in February itself. 4 men have been arrested so far, including Raj Kushwaha- one of whom is Raj’s cousin. All are known to be friends of Raj and Sonam.
Planned to murder another woman to be disguised as Sonam
Plan 1: Police revealed that one of the original plans was to kill a woman, place her body on Sonam’s scooter, set it on fire, and claim it was Sonam who died.
Plan 2: Another plan was to make it look like Sonam had been swept away by a river.
Accused group reached Assam before Raja
The group arrived in Assam a few days before Raja and Sonam reached there on May 19. The first two murder attempts in Guwahati failed, so the group shifted plans to Shillong and then Sohra.
On the day of the murder, the group met at Nongriat and traveled together to Weisawdong Falls. There, in the parking lot, 3 of the men attacked Raja with a machete and killed him in front of Sonam. They then threw his body into a gorge.
After the murder, Sonam handed over her raincoat to one of the killers, Akash, to help him hide a bloodstain on his shirt. Akash later discarded the raincoat, which also had blood on it.
Raj gave Sonam a burqa through an associate named Vishal Chauhan, which she used to travel back to Indore unnoticed.
Sudden appearance was part of plan
Raj had asked Sonam to pretend she had been kidnapped and reappear in Siliguri. But after Akash’s arrest on June 8, Raj panicked and told Sonam to call her family and say she had escaped from her kidnappers.
On June 9, Sonam finally appeared in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, about 1,200 km away, and surrendered. She was then taken into custody.
The police continue to investigate the case, piecing together the full extent of the conspiracy.
