'Seen with Indore couple': Meghalaya local guide identifies one accused

A local tourist guide who alerted police about the presence of three men accompanying newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi on the day they went missing, claimed on Tuesday that he identified one of the suspects after seeing police photographs.

The couple went missing on May 23. Raja’s highly decomposed body, bearing fatal head injuries, was found on June 2 near Weisawdong Falls.

Albert Pde, a guide at Mawlakhiat, told PTI, “I could identify one of the suspects from the photos provided by police.”

“I am happy that the criminals are finally behind bars. We stand vindicated. Those who tried to tarnish the image of Sohra and its people as violent have now been exposed,” he added.

Pde said he saw the couple with three men climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 a.m. on May 23.

“The four men, including Raja, were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men conversed in Hindi,” he noted, adding that he is not fluent in the language.

Pde had earlier offered to guide the group on May 22, but they declined and hired another guide, identified as Bha Wansai, who dropped them at Shipara Homestay.

Police on Monday arrested Sonam, a 24-year-old woman from Indore, for allegedly orchestrating her husband's murder during their honeymoon in Sohra, Meghalaya.

Raja was reportedly killed by men hired by Sonam. She went missing and later surrendered in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, at Nandganj police station, after the arrest of the three alleged assailants — Akash Rajput (19), Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), and Raj Singh Kushwaha (21) — in overnight raids.

An autopsy at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) confirmed Raja suffered two sharp cuts to the head — one from the front and one from behind.

East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said, “The autopsy report indicated there were two sharp cuts on the head of the deceased.” He added that the police also observed these injuries during the inquest.

Following the findings, police registered a murder case under Sohra Police Station. (PTI)