Guwahati: In the early hours of Wednesday, police sirens pierced the silence of Shillong as a convoy sped through the city, bringing Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime suspect in the murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, to the Sadar Police Station in Meghalaya.
The Meghalaya Police team transported her under tight security shortly after midnight.
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Authorities brought Sonam, 24, to the station around 12.30 am, where she stayed overnight.
Police plan to present her in court on Wednesday morning to request her remand for further questioning.
However, shortly after her arrival, officers rushed her to Ganesh Das Government Maternal and Child Health Hospital due to concerns about a possible pregnancy.
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Doctors conducted three tests, all of which returned negative results. Around 3 am, police returned her to the station.
Earlier, a medical examination conducted in Ghazipur had failed to confirm her pregnancy status conclusively.
On Monday morning, Sonam surrendered at Nandganj police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, roughly 1,100 kilometers from the crime scene in Sohra.
Meghalaya Police obtained a three-day transit remand from a local court to bring her back for investigation.
Her arrival in Shillong marks a critical moment in the investigation of a murder that has shocked Meghalaya and drawn national attention.
Investigators believe Sonam conspired with multiple accomplices, including her alleged lover, Raj Singh Kushwaha, to orchestrate her husband’s killing.
Police expect four other suspects to arrive in Shillong by Wednesday morning. These individuals were arrested over the weekend in coordinated raids across Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Authorities identified them as Akash Rajput (19), apprehended in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh; Vishal Singh Chauhan (22) and Raj Singh Kushwaha (21), both from Indore, Madhya Pradesh; and Anand Kurmi (23), from Sagar district, Madhya Pradesh.
According to investigators, the murder was premeditated and planned even before Sonam and Raja’s arranged marriage.
Police claimed that Sonam maintained an illicit relationship with Raj Kushwaha, a manager at her father’s factory, despite her marriage.
She allegedly remained in contact with him throughout her honeymoon.
Investigators allege that Sonam arranged the couple’s trip to Meghalaya and encouraged Raja to wear a gold chain to make him a more attractive target.
Police also said that Raj coordinated the murder from afar, dispatching the three attackers ahead of the couple’s arrival.
Reports suggest he provided them with Rs. 50,000 and mobile phones, and Sonam may have promised them up to Rs. 9 lakh in total.
The murder took place on May 23 at the parking lot of the popular Wai Sawdong Falls in Sohra. Police allege that Sonam lured Raja to the location after secretly scouting it in advance.
Officers believe she had previously met the attackers, who stayed in Nongriat on May 22, and arranged for them to cross paths with Raja as they returned from a trek across the double-decker living root bridge.
At the parking lot, the attackers reportedly struck Raja twice in the head with a machete, which they had purchased earlier.
Investigators believe Sonam stood nearby as the murder unfolded. The group then fled, dumping Raja’s body and the weapon into a gorge.
The suspects split up after the crime. While the three male assailants traveled to Indore via Guwahati, Sonam took a similar route using trains and taxis.
She later surfaced in Ghazipur and claimed she had gone to Indore, though police are still verifying her movements. Reports also place her in Bihar during that period.
After recovering Raja’s body on June 2, the Meghalaya Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) began working intensively.
A 15- to 20-member unit analyzed surveillance footage, call records, and other evidence.
Within seven days, they identified the suspects and pieced together the sequence of events that led to Raja’s death.