Shillong, June 5: The family members alleged that Sonam Raghuvanshi has been kidnapped or abducted by the local people.
While talking to reporters, Sonam’s brother, Govind, said that this case is slowly opening up since initially there was complete denial that incidents of crimes like kidnapping or robbery against tourists are common in the area.
He said that till now, there are no clues regarding the belongings of Sonam, as she had two mobile phones and a handbag.
According to him, the search operation has been conducted in all the areas where the search team suspects the body could be located.
Sonam’s brother further stated that the NDRF and SDRF are extensively searching the entire area.
“But there is no clue so far. What I feel is that the belongings of Sonam should have been found near the area where Raja Raghuvanshi was found,” Govind said.
Sonam’s brother also revealed that the last known location of the mobile phones of both Raja and Sonam, according to the police, is the place where Raja’s body was recovered.
Meanwhile, he questioned, “if there are no visitors in this area, then how is it that right below the 200-feet-deep gorge, there are truckloads of garbage piled up?”.
“It is only the local people who would know how to dump a dead body in this garbage. It looks like everything is planned,” Govind alleged.
While urging the government to continue with the search operation, he also appealed to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma for a CBI probe into the mysterious death of Raja since it has now been proven that he was murdered.
“We are in close touch with the police only during the daytime, during the search operation, to know about any clues they have been able to gather,” Sonam’s brother said.
Meanwhile, he said that the problem here is the motive of the search operation since they are trying to locate the body of Sonam.
Asserting that the mindset of the search operation has to change, he said that the focus should be to trace his sister alive.
“As her brother, I have this inner feeling that she is still alive. Nothing will come of it if the approach is only to search for a dead body,” Govind said.
Replying to a query, he said that the initial plan for the honeymoon trip of Raja and Sonam was only to visit Assam.
He said the two decided to visit Shillong after reaching Assam.
“But as a family, we had no idea about the conversation that led to the decision to visit Shillong and Sohra,” Sonam’s brother added.