Shillong, June 3: The sensational case of missing of a tourist couple has been confirmed to be a case of murder as police have recovered the murder weapon – a crucial evidence to establish a homicide case – allegedly used in the killing of Raja Raghuvanshi while his wife has still remained untraced.
Earlier, police registered a murder case after his body was found in a deep gorge at Weisawdong Falls on Monday, following a week-long search operations for Raja and his wife Sonam, who went missing while on their honeymoon in Sohra on May 23.
“We have recovered a ‘dao’ (machete). It’s a new dao, and it appears to have been used solely for this purpose,” East Khasi Hills district police chief Vivek Syiem told reporters on Tuesday.
Confirming it a clear case of homicide, he said, “The person (Raja) was murdered, and there’s no doubt about it. We have registered a case for murder and destruction of evidence. We are investigating the motive behind it.”
The district police chief said the case is being treated as a top priority, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by SP (City) Herbert Kharkongor is leading the investigation. Kharkongor will be assisted by four Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and two sub-inspectors.
Regarding the investigation, Syiem said the police are awaiting the post-mortem examination report to determine whether Raja died before or after being thrown into the gorge.
“Once we receive the post-mortem report, we will be able to ascertain the nature of the injuries and whether they were fatal,” he added.
Police can’t rule out any possibilities at this stage and need to gather more evidence to conclude the investigation, the SP said.
“We need to look into more evidence to determine the motive, whether it was robbery, vendetta, hatred, or any issue between the accused and the victims,” Syiem said.
Meanwhile, the search and rescue operation for Raja’s wife, Sonam, has continued. The police plan to resume their search in the adjoining areas, covering a distance of about 1-2 kilometers from the location where the body was found.
