Meghalaya govt not to take legal action in defamation case
Honeymoon murder
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 13: East Khasi Hills Police will take all the five accused in the honeymoon murder case to Sohra for reconstruction of the crime scene once the questioning is completed.
East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem on Friday said interrogation of Sonam Raghuvanshi and the other four accused is under way.
“Once examination is over, we will do the reconstruction of the crime scene,” he told reporters.
All the five accused have been remanded in eight days of police custody after they were produced in the court on Wednesday.
“If the investigation requires more police remand, we will accordingly pray court for it,” Syiem said.
He also confirmed that main accused Raj Kushwaha and the other co-accused — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi — had never visited Sohra in the past.
The Special Investigation Team which cracked the case in a record time of seven days, is endeavouring to prepare a watertight case against all the accused for allegedly murdering Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi in Sohra on May 23.
Meanwhile, the state government has decided not to pursue any legal action against prominent media houses and individuals over inflammatory and defamatory remarks made against Meghalaya, its people and its police force following the Sohra incident.
Cabinet Minister and MDA spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh said the conditions laid down by the state government for public apology has been met by the concerned media houses and the individuals.
He said the response to the state’s demand for public apology was swift and substantial.
“The response has been tremendous because a lot of these major media houses, including Times of India and Republic TV, apart from private bloggers, have tendered their unqualified apology,” Lyngdoh said.
Asked whether the government would continue with its legal proceedings, Lyngdoh said, “For instance, the family of the deceased has also publicly apologised to the government and the people of Meghalaya. So the matter ends there.”