In a significant breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Meghalaya Police on Sunday recovered key evidence, including a missing gold chain of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was killed in Sohra last month.
The recovery was made during a raid at the residence of arrested property dealer Silom James in Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh, police said.
The operation led to the seizure of gold jewellery, laptops belonging to Raja and his wife Sonam, and other incriminating materials.
"The electronic devices and documents seized hold significant evidentiary value and may shed further light on the May 23 murder case involving Sonam Raghuvanshi and her lover Raj Kushwaha," East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said.
Sub-inspectors Anthony Khongsit and Karan Pachua led the SIT team and were supported by the personnel from Alkapuri Police Station during the well coordinated operation, Syiem told PTI.
The SIT busted the carefully orchestrated plot behind the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, whose decomposed body was recovered near Weisawdong Falls on June 2, ten days after he and his wife went missing from Sohra.
According to investigators, the couple had rented a scooter from Keatinge Road in the city on May 22 and travelled to Sohra.
After failing to secure a room at a homestay due to lack of prior booking, they left their luggage and trekked down 3,000 steps from Mawlakhiat to Nongriat, where they spent the night.
The next morning they checked out around 5:30 am and began their ascent back to Mawlakhiat where they parked their rented scooter.
Unknown to Raja, they were being trailed by three other persons from Indore, known to Sonam and later were identified to be the hitmen.
A tourist guide and an Instagram user had separately spotted and recorded the group on their trek, videos of which surfaced online after the five accused were rounded up from Indore.
By 11 AM on May 23, the group had reached a secluded area near Weisawdong Falls where Raja was brutally attacked with 2 machetes and his body dumped into a nearby gorge.
The three assailants, along with Sonam, fled the scene minutes later, as confirmed by Syiem.
"This wasn't a random act. The attack was calculated. Initially, it seemed like Sonam and her boyfriend had hired contract killers. But we've now confirmed the three men were close friends of Raj and killed him as a favour to Sonam," Syiem told PTI.
The SIT has now confirmed that the hitmen procured the murder weapon, a machete, in Guwahati before arriving in Shillong on May 21. All individuals involved arrived around the same time, travelling to Sohra soon after.
Sonam, who fled the scene by taxi, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on June 9. Her mangalsutra and a ring were found abandoned at a Sohra homestay, further implicating her.
DGP I. Nongrang, who is personally monitoring the investigation, stated, "We are looking at all possible angles. It's unusual for such deep animosity to develop within days of marriage.
Sohra, which holds the record as the wettest place on earth, is 65 km south of the state capital and is one of the popular tourist destinations in Meghalaya.
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