By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 9: The murder of Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi, orchestrated by his wife Sonam and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha and executed by three assailants, reached its logical conclusion exactly 17 days after the couple supposedly went missing in the woods of Sohra.
Sonam and Raja were married on May 11. It is not yet clear why she plotted to kill her husband in connivance with Kushwaha in the hills of Meghalaya, thousands of kilometres from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
According to media reports, it began with a name in a booklet. The first contact between Sonam and Raja was made through a traditional matrimonial directory, the Samaj Parichay Pustika, on October 1, 2024. As part of a Ram Navami ritual, names of eligible boys and girls from the community are published in the booklet to help families arrange matches.
Sonam’s father enrolled her name. Raja’s family did the same, and after an initial meeting, both families fixed the marriage.
Raja, the youngest of three brothers, took charge of the family business, Raghuvanshi Transport, providing buses on rent to schools and coaching institutes since 2007. Sonam, the daughter of plywood factory owner Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, lived in Indore’s Kushwaha Nagar area.
She ran nearly every department of the family business – billing, accounts, and supervision.
According to Raja’s mother, her daughter-in-law stayed with them for four days and left for her maternal place.
Some reports said Kushwaha, the accused who handled the assailants from Indore, is an employee of Sonam, and they would constantly talk on the phone.
Soon after the marriage, the couple decided to go on a honeymoon to Assam and Meghalaya. Raja’s mother said Sonam booked the one-way ticket from Indore to Guwahati.
“We thought married people across the world go on honeymoon and they will do the same and return safely,” she said, suspecting a big plot behind the murder of her son.
“They had no plans to go to Shillong. Sonam booked the ticket, and Raja told me that he would have to go and return in 7-8 days,” she said, adding that her son was not in the mood to go for the honeymoon so early.
The couple sent their picture from the airport with Raja wearing a gold chain and other ornaments. This worried the mother, as the ornaments could catch the attention of criminals.
“He said Sonam told him to take the ornaments. I advised him not to wear such expensive things and keep them in the bag,” Raja’s mother said.
She also said Raja took Rs 20,000 in cash with him.
She said she asked Sonam to send pictures and videos of the places they visit. “Nothing was sent,” she said, demanding capital punishment for those involved in the crime.
It is said that Raja’s family wanted their son to take Sonam out for leisure before marriage, but Sonam’s family rejected the idea.
Raja’s mother also alleged that her family wanted the marriage to take place after a year, but Sonam’s family insisted that there was no ‘lagan’ (auspicious date) after a year.
“If Sonam did not want to stay with my son, she could have simply left him instead of taking this step,” she said.
There are theories on why the couple took a secluded route in Sohra instead of the normal route taken by tourists who intend to visit the Nongriat Double Decker Root Bridge. A local guide claimed they took a different route and declined the services offered by another guide.
Some think Sonam planned to disappear after committing the crime and resurface with a claim that they were robbed by some goons and her husband was killed while she was kidnapped.
The assailants allegedly hired by Sonam and Kushwaha bought a dao from Guwahati and left Meghalaya on the same day after committing the crime.
A local guide had seen the couple with three Hindi-speaking men in Sohra before the crime was committed. Experts believe the group did not realise that they left a lot of evidence.
It is learnt that call details played a pivotal role in solving the mystery. The Meghalaya Police checked the call details and found that Sonam was in constant touch with a person on the phone for a year.
The details were shared with Indore Police, who tracked Kushwaha.
It is claimed that the assailants hired to commit the crime left the state and used a train instead of a flight to avoid getting captured by CCTV cameras.
Ever since the couple was said to be missing, Meghalaya Police was focusing on their rescue, but soon after the body of Raja was found, they ascertained it was a case of homicide and started investigating accordingly to crack the case.