CCTV footage showed property dealer removing Sonam’s bag from apartment after her arrest
Shillong, June 22: Investigation into the honeymoon murder case has achieved yet another milestone as the Meghalaya Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) recovered a crucial piece of evidence – rather remains of it – following arrest of two more persons in Madhya Pradesh.
The evidence, charred remains of a “black bag” that contained belongings of Sonam Raghuvanshi, prime accused along with four others in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi in Sohra on May 23, was found by the SIT at MR3 Hare Krishna Vihar in Indore.
The bag was left by Sonam in a flat at Heera Bagh Colony in Indore where she was hiding after Raja’s murder, while fleeing Indore.
Sonam had stayed there and kept the jewellery and other items she took with her after the murder, police said. Sonam stayed in the flat for several days on return from Sohra, before eventually surrendering to police in UP on June 8, the sources said.
Silome James, a property dealer arrested by police on Saturday night, led the SIT to the spot where he allegedly attempted to destroy the bag containing vital items belonging to Sonam.
The site revealed a scene of attempted concealment. While police located the exact spot, the contents of the bag were found completely charred.
Confirming the development, East Khasi Hills superintendent of police Vivek Syiem said, “The forensic team has come to lift the debris. We will get it examined in CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory).”
Meanwhile, according to sources, the SIT had been searching for the bag for the past five days in Indore. They had also searched the house of Sonam Raghuvanshi and her family’s plywood factory office as well as her brother’s office and questioned her family members and her employees.
Reportedly, the bag contained Rs 5 lakh cash, one country made pistol, Sonam’s phone and Raja’s Jewellery.
However, at the site where James had burnt the box, there were no signs of the pistol, laptop or any of the jewellery belonging to Raja.
Earlier, the SIT arrested Silome James from Bhonrasa Toll Gate in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh while he was allegedly attempting to flee.
James had rented out a flat to Vishal Singh Chauhan, one of the main accused, where Sonam had stayed for over 10 days after escaping from Sohra.
On June 13, James told reporters that Chauhan approached him on May 30 and rented the flat for Rs 17,000 per month, signing a formal agreement.
However, when the Meghalaya Police later searched the flat, it was found vacant, as per the sources.
CCTV footage allegedly showed James removing Sonam’s bag from this apartment after her arrest, prompting the search for the destroyed evidence.
Balbir Ahirbar alias ‘Ballu’, the security guard of the building, was arrested on Sunday and is believed to possess crucial information regarding the movements of the accused and other developments within the property.
Both James and Ballu are slated to be produced in an Indore court, where the SIT will seek transit remand to bring them to Shillong for further in-depth questioning.
Raja Raghuvanshi married Sonam on May 11 in Indore and the couple left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya on May 20.
Raghuvanshi went missing on May 23 and his mutilated body was recovered on June 2 from a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra in East Khasi Hills district.
Raja was hacked to death by three men using two machetes near a secluded parking lot close to the famous Weisawdong Falls in Sohra on May 23, the day the couple was reported missing.
Sonam, accused of conspiring with her alleged lover to kill her husband, surrendered on June 8 before the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, while four other accused – Sonam’s alleged lover Raj Kushwaha and his three accomplices Vishal Chauhan, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi – were arrested from different locations in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh..
All the five are currently in judicial custody in Shillong.
