Meghalaya murder: Court sends Sonam, aides to 8-day police custody

Shillong, Jun 11 (PTI) A court in Shillong on Wednesday sent Sonam Raghuvanshi, accused of killing her husband Raja during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, and her four aides to eight-day police custody, an official said.

The Meghalaya police brought Sonam here from Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday midnight and the other accused from Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday on transit remand, a senior officer said.

"Police had sought a 10-day remand of all the accused. The court granted 8 days of police custody," East Khasi Hills district SP Vivek Syiem told PTI.

Sonam, a 24-year-old woman, was arrested from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, while her aides were apprehended from Indore in Madhya Pradesh for their alleged role in conspiring and killing Raja Raghuvanshi.

The special investigation team sought police custody of the accused to reconstruct the crime scene in Sohra, the officer said.

The SIT has secured a six-day remand for the accused persons from Indore and that of three days for one arrested from Ghazipur, he added.

Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife went missing while vacationing in Meghalaya's Sohra area on May 23. His body was found in a gorge on June 2.

Earlier in the day, Sonam was taken to a hospital here where they ran three tests to verify if she was pregnant while medical tests on the other accused were conducted at the Sadar PS here.

Syiem said all tests came out negative and another round of tests on her will be conducted after 24 hours.

The SP said that the SIT will thoroughly interrogate each of the five accused.

Requesting media outlets not to "speculate", the SP said the police investigation also includes corroboration of their statements with all evidence including CCTV footage, call records, etc.

"Once the examination is done and the statements are recorded, the SIT will decide on a date to reconstruct the crime scene," he said. PTI