Mystery continues to swirl around the gruesome honeymoon murder of Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya, as conflicting accounts have emerged regarding the surrender of his wife, Sonam. While Meghalaya police has maintained that the wife is the prime accused who hired contract killers due to an alleged love triangle, her family insisted she neither surrendered nor conspired, and have called for a CBI probe.

Meghalaya police have also claimed she had a relationship with Raj Kushwaha, one of the accused arrested.

"As per the SIT investigation, the main accused is Sonam. She came with three other contract killers and surrendered herself to the UP police. Three others have also been arrested and have confessed to the crime. The (crime) weapon has been recovered," said Meghalaya tourism minister Paul Lyngdoh on Monday. “It is clearly a case that involved a love triangle and the main accused had engaged contract killers in order to carry out a heinous crime.”

The other accused are – Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, Raj Kushwaha and Anand Kurmi - all residents of Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

Vivek Syiem, superintendent of police, East Khasi Hills, claimed that Sonam surfaced after Raj Khushwaha was apprehended. Shillong police on Monday got 7 days transit remand of three accused- Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Raj Singh Kushwaha.

Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotiya said, "The fourth accused, Anand, is being brought to Indore from Bina, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh); all four will be taken to Shillong by Shillong Police."

The police have claimed key confessions and a recovered weapon.

"The first person arrested is 19 a 19-year-old Akash Rajput, from Lalitpur. The second accused is Vishal Singh Chauhan, age 22 years, from Indore, the third is Raj Singh Kushwaha, age 21 years, from Indore. This afternoon, we arrested another accused from the Sagar District. One person has been detained in the Nandgarh police station. These people committed the crime on 23rd May and left soon after. At that time, we didn't know it was a murder; we were looking for them. We looked for missing reports, and nobody was found. The body was found only on 2 June, after which SIT was formed and the investigation started. Within these 7 days, the SIT has accumulated substantial evidence and gone down there and has zeroed down on the culprits. If we connect the dots, preliminary investigation will reveal how this whole motive and crime was carried out. It was actually Raj Kushwaha with Sonam. When they come here, we will finally be able to confirm. All these days, Sonam and others were underground, and yesterday, when our operation started, suddenly she surfaced," said the police.

There’s mystery surrounding Sonam’s sudden appearance late Sunday night.

Sonam had surrendered at Nandganj Police Station in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh, claimed the Meghalaya administration, according to ANI.

Sonam, 24, and a resident of Govind Nagar in Indore, was found late on Sunday night at Kashi Dhaba located along the Varanasi-Ghazipur highway, according to the office of ADG (law and order), Uttar Pradesh.

The statements of both the families seem to contradict Meghalaya’s claim.

"When she called me, I got emotional, and later informed the police. Until I meet her (Sonam), I cannot say anything. For the last 72 hours, I have been awake," said Govind, Sonam's brother.

"I spoke to Govind (Sonam's brother) around 2 AM. He informed me that Sonam was found in Uttar Pradesh. After we contacted UP police, Sonam was taken by the police. She did not surrender. We will not agree that Sonam is the accused until and unless she confesses to this. Both (Raja and Sonam) were happy in their marriage. I never saw the two fighting. Police have not even handed over the post-mortem report of my brother. Meghalaya CM keeps saying that the police are working 24*7 in this case, but we kept calling the SP, and he never picked up our phone. We have no idea how Sonam reached Ghazipur. We want the Madhya Pradesh Police and the CBI to investigate this case. Shillong Police did not share details with us. I just want to say that if Sonam is involved in this case, she should be punished," Vipin Raghuvanshi, brother of Raja, said.

Raja's mother Uma Raghuvanshi said, "If Sonam loved my son, she wouldn't have left my son to die. How is she safe? All people behind this should be strictly punished. I don't know who Raj Kushwaha is. Sonam planned their honeymoon. They didn't book their return tickets."

"Before they got married, we wanted them to spend time together, but Sonam's mother was not open to this. If she has done all this, she will be punished. I don't know anything about the others who are reportedly involved. I had a good relationship with Sonam. I cannot blame Sonam right now. First, those three men should be investigated, and then Sonam should be investigated. We had wholeheartedly accepted her. We have no idea about Sonam's relationship with Raj Kushwaha," she added.

Sonam's father, Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, demanded a probe by the CBI into the case, claiming that her daughter was "100 per cent innocent",

"The Meghalaya police are giving false statements about my daughter because the state government's image is getting tarnished due to Raja Raghuvanshi's murder case," he alleged.

He further claimed that the Meghalaya police have no evidence against his daughter that she gave a contract to get her husband killed.

Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said, “All these days they have blamed the people and government of Meghalaya. Since we have already arrested the accused, everything will become clearer to them and one day they will have to withdraw their statements against Meghalaya. Meghalaya is safe, and they need to learn not to jump to conclusions without getting all the facts and details. Our police force has performed exceptionally well and the police and our government, including the CM, would hardly sleep because we wanted to solve this mystery at the earliest.”

Influential Shillong-based civil society group CoMSO on Monday demanded an apology from the family of Sonam, alleging that they defamed the people of Meghalaya and tried to tarnish the image of a state dependent on tourism.

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) chairman Roy Kupar Synrem alleged that Sonam's family made calculated efforts to politicise a personal tragedy, exploit the press, and generate anti-Meghalaya sentiments nationwide.

He also renewed the demand for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, maintaining that it would help in keeping a tab on people entering the state and regulate the flow of tourists, which would ensure greater security.

Raghuvanshi and his wife went missing on May 23. His body was found in a gorge on June 2, while a search for his wife was underway.