A Shillong court on Wednesday remanded Sonam Raghuvanshi, a key accused in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya last month, to eight days’ police custody along with her four alleged accomplices.

The development comes on a day Sonam’s brother said he was “100 per cent” sure his sister had orchestrated the crime and asserted she should be hanged if found guilty.

Police had sought 10 days’ remand for Sonam, her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha, Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput and Vishal Singh Chauhan, but the Court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) granted eight days.

All the accused were produced in the court amid tight security. A large crowd of locals and mediapersons had gathered at the Shillong police station and the court since morning.

Sonam reached Shillong via Patna-Calcutta-Guwahati just after midnight, while the other four accused reached in the morning. Their medical tests were completed by the afternoon.

Before they were produced in the court, East Khasi Hills superintendent of police Vivek Syiem told reporters that the investigation was on and “a lot of things” needed to be confirmed. “There is evidence against them, but this can be confirmed only after we finish the interrogation. We will have to tie up a lot of loose ends. We can confirm (Sonam’s involvement) only after quizzing her.”

The couple had arrived in Shillong on May 22, and Raja was murdered a day later. The police suspect Sonam and Raj of having hired contract killers to eliminate Raja, whose decomposed body was spotted on June 2 in a gorge near the Wei Sawdong waterfalls in Sohra.

The police had on Tuesday said Raj had been “handling” the alleged contract killers — Anand, Akash and Vishal — and that Sonam and Raj were in constant touch with each other while she was on her honeymoon.

The police had tracked their movement through call records, CCTV footage, train tickets and Aadhaar cards photocopies, sources said. A tourist guide had told the police that he had seen three persons — later identified as the alleged contract killers — with the couple on May 23.

Akash, 19, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh; Raj, 21, and Vishal, 22, from Indore; and Anand, 23, from Basahari. Indore and Basahari are in Madhya Pradesh.

Sonam surfaced in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on Sunday night, where she surrendered at the Nandganj police station.

A distraught Govind Raghuvanshi, Sonam’s brother, on Wednesday announced that his family had snapped all ties with his sister. Expressing solidarity with Raja’s grieving family members, he vowed to help them in their fight for justice.

Govind visited Raja’s house to console the latter’s family members. He hugged Raja’s mother Uma and broke down.

Asked if Sonam should be given the capital punishment if charges against her were proved, he told reporters: “Absolutely, if Sonam is found guilty, she should be hanged straight away. I will appoint a lawyer myself to represent Raja Raghuvanshi’s family in court.”

“I am with the truth. Raja’s family has lost a son. I have apologised to his family. Our family has broken ties with Sonam,” he said.

Govind said he now considered himself a member of Raja’s family and said he would fight a legal battle to get his killers punished.

“I do not know whether my sister Sonam has confessed her crime, but from the evidence that is coming out, I know 100 per cent that she is the one who executed this crime,” he said.

Vipin Raghuvanshi, the elder brother of the deceased, on Tuesday tendered an apology for criticising the Meghalaya government and the police over the investigation.

“It was not our intention to defame Meghalaya or its people,” he said while thanking the state administration and the police for cracking the case and recovering Raja’s body.

Sohra residents had set a 24-hour apology deadline for those who had tried to defame Meghalaya and its people over the case.

Additional reporting by PTI