Meghalaya: Body of missing Indore tourist sent for autopsy, murder case registered

The body of Raja Raghuvanshi has been transported to NEIGRIHMS in Shillong for post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death, eight days after the Indore tourist and his wife disappeared during their Meghalaya trek.

 

Raghuvanshi's remains were discovered Monday morning when a police drone spotted the body in a deep gorge below Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang. The challenging recovery operation from the steep, inaccessible terrain culminated in a magisterial inquest conducted between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm by Executive Magistrate Adiel R. Kyntan.

 

Family members positively identified the body through "a distinctive tattoo on the deceased's right hand reading 'Raja,'" according to Additional Deputy Commissioner Mark A Challam of Sohra Sub Division. The identification took place in the presence of independent local witnesses following standard protocol.

 

Authorities have now registered a murder case and are forming a Special Investigation Team to handle the probe. "The police are actively investigating the case, and no possibilities, including foul play, have been ruled out at this stage," Challam stated in his official announcement Monday.

 

The discovery came after an intensive eight-day search operation involving police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Special Operations Team (SOT), and the West Jaintia Hills District Adventure Mountaineering Club. Teams had been scouring the area since May 23, when the couple from Madhya Pradesh vanished while exploring popular trekking destinations.

 

Evidence recovered from the scene includes a woman's white shirt, strips of Pentra 40 medication, fragments of a Vivo mobile phone's LCD screen, and a smartwatch found on the victim's wrist. These items suggest the couple may have been together when the incident occurred.

 

Despite the breakthrough in locating Raja Raghuvanshi, his wife Sonam remains missing. Search operations continue as investigators work to determine what happened to the tourist couple in the remote Meghalaya hills.