She Asked for Help to Call Her Family; Roadside Eatery Owner on Meeting Accused

Tracking the honeymoon murder

- Sudhir Kumar

David Laitphlang, Shruti Tomar and Sudhir Kumar [e-mail]

SHILLONG/INDORE/VARANASI: The plan to kill Raja Raghuvanshi may have even been in the works even before his May 11 wedding with Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is now accused of orchestrating the Indore businessman's murder during their honeymoon in Meghalaya along with her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Kushwaha, 21, and one of the three men he allegedly hired to kill 29-year-old Raghuvanshi, Vishal Singh Chauhan, were arrested from Indore by Meghalaya police on Sunday night. Another accused, Akash Rajput, was arrested from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. Sonam, 25, who had been missing since May 23, turned up in a dhaba in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, and was arrested in the early hours of Monday.

"Kushwaha was in contact with the killers for some weeks," the Indore police officer, who is aware of the questioning of Raj Kushwaha and Chauhan, said. The three hired killers, the officer said, left Indore for Meghalaya on May 17 with Rs 50,000 and a mobile phone provided by Kushwaha. Once there, they chose a spot to kill Raghuvanshi and dispose of his body.

On May 16, Sonam shared her honeymoon plan with Raja and booked tickets the day after, Raja's mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, said. "My son told me that Sonam was insisting on a honeymoon and we agreed," she said.

Uma said that Sonam took Rs nine lakh from her son for the honeymoon and also took her some jewellery with her. "When I asked my son when they would return, he told me that no return ticket has been booked and they would come back within a week," she told reporters on Monday.