The Meghalaya police recovered the murder weapon that was used to kill 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi, a tourist from Madhya Pradesh.

The deceased went missing on May 23 along with his wife Sonam while holidaying in Sohra, a popular tourist destination.

The decomposed body of the Indore resident was recovered by a drone-assisted search team from a deep gorge near the Weisawdong falls on Monday morning.

East Khasi Hills district police chief Vivek Syiem said on Tuesday evening that a new dao which was apparently used to murder the deceased (Raja) has been recovered. Confirming that Raja was murdered, he said they were trying to find out the cause.

Raja’s wife is still missing.

Meghalaya police had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case after the recovery of the body. Raja’s brother, Vipin, had identified his body through a distinctive tattoo on the deceased’s right hand which read “Raja”, the officer said.

Vipin had told the media earlier in the day that they demanded a CBI inquiry because his brother was murdered. He said the belongings of the deceased were missing from the body. He urged the police to rescue his sister-in-law.

Police said the seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was awaiting the post-mortem report and that the case has been “accorded top priority”.

The report will reveal whether Raja died before or after being thrown in the gorge.

The government is coming up with new initiatives to boost tourist footfall and this kind of incident will impact footfall, sources said.