Two of the men who were accused of assisting Sonam Raghuvanshi in killing her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, on their honeymoon in Meghalaya have recanted their previous confessions and refused to testify before a magistrate, police sources said on Thursday.
The two accused, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi, opted not to say anything when produced before a magistrate, Shillong City Superintendent of Police and SIT chief Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor said.
"We presented before the magistrate today only two of the five accused. They refused to make any statement. We do, however, have ample material evidence against them. We are also expecting the report of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL)," Kharkongor said.
Earlier, Meghalaya Police had stated that all the suspects had accepted their involvement in the crime in their statements during interrogation. But Kharkongor explained that if given to police, such statements are not admissible as evidence by the court.
"They have the liberty not to provide a confessional statement before the magistrate. But material evidence is equally important. We are sure of our case," he said.
According to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), only statements recorded before a magistrate under Section 183 have evidentiary value in the court of law. Section 180 statements are mainly meant for investigation and cross-examination purposes.
A Chilling Crime During a Honeymoon
The case made national headlines after it was first handled as a "missing persons" case of a couple who were honeymooners from Indore—29-year-old Raja and 24-year-old Sonam—who went missing on May 23, soon after they had checked out of a homestay in Nongriat village, Meghalaya. Raja's body was found on June 2, approximately 20 km from where the couple last appeared.
Investigations uncovered a sinister plot. Police said Sonam was romantically involved with Raj Kushwaha, who works as an accountant for her family business, even after her marriage to Raja on May 11. The extramarital affair continued despite the wedding, the police alleged, and a conspiracy to kill Raja was hatched.
Sonam surfaced in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on June 8 and later surrendered at Nandganj police station. Her surrender came after the arrest of Akash, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand from places in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Raj Kushwaha was then arrested. On June 11, Sonam reportedly confessed to plotting her husband's murder. Police also revealed that her cousin, Jitendra Raghuvanshi, had organized the first payment to the three men who were hired to commit the crime.
Family Disowns Sonam; More Arrests Made
Sonam's brother Govind disowned her publicly and sided with the grieving family of Raja. "Our family has disowned Sonam. We stand by Raja's family and will stand by them in their fight for justice," he stated.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who is also in charge of the Home department, confirmed that the probe is now going beyond the love angle. Three more people have been arrested in relation to the case.
The freshly arrested suspects are Lokendra Singh Tomar, the owner of the flat where Sonam allegedly stayed after her return from Meghalaya, Silome James, a property dealer who had rented the apartment to co-accused Vishal, and Balbir Ahirbar alias 'Ballu', a local security personnel.
The murder case keeps unraveling new layers, as the police gather evidence in one of the most gruesome crimes in recent times.
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