FILE photo. Sonam Raghuvanshi with husband Raja (left), and Sonam Raghuvanshi after arrest (right).
NEW DELHI: Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly killed her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during her honeymoon in Meghalaya just days after their wedding on May 11, had reportedly devised two plans to execute the cold-blooded murder.
According to Meghalaya police, Sonam and her aides killed Raja as their initial plan had to be shelved due to bad weather.
Sonam had arrived in Shillong on May 22, the day they originally planned to kill Raja.
The three killers were also supposed to reach the location Sonam shared with them the same day.
Plan A, according to the investigators, was that Sonam would take Raja to a mountain during a trek and then push him off while taking a selfie to make it look like an accidental death.
However, due to rain, they could not go for the trek and Sonam switched to plan B.
On May 23, Sonam and Raja went with their planned trek, and the three hired killers met them midway.
This was also confirmed by a local guide, who told the police that he saw the three men accompanying the couple and speaking in Hindi.
Sonam feigned being tired of the journey and started walking behind.
It is being suspected that Sonam’s mother-in-law also called them around the same time and that is why Sonam made up stories that it was Raja who forced her to go to the mountain and disconnected the call without letting the mother suspect anything wrong.
As per some reports, when they reached the top of the mountain, Sonam, who was walking behind, shouted, “Kill him”.
Subsequently, one of the hired killers, Vishal Chouhan, attacked Raja with a sharp weapon, first from behind and then from the front.
The three men and Sonam then pushed him into a deep gorge.
After the murder, Sonam and the hired killers reportedly regrouped at another location some 11 km away from the crime scene to plan their escape.
After the murder, Sonam travelled back to Indore by train via Siliguri and stayed there at a rented room, said a report.
She then went to Varanasi in a cab, reportedly arranged by her suspected lover Raj Kushwaha.
From there, she went to Ghazipur, which is also the hometown of her boyfriend Raj, and was subsequently arrested by the police.
The police have arrested all five accused – Sonam Raghuvanshi, her lover Raj Kushwaha, and the three hitmen, Vishal Chouhan, Akash Rajput, and Anand Kurmi.
They have all been remanded to transit custody of the Meghalaya police. - The Statesman/ANN
