Prime accused in Sohra murder case remanded to police custody, 3 others in judicial custody
Police requested additional custody of the prime accused as both Sonam and Raj gave contradictory statements during interrogation.
Shillong, June 20: Prime accused Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha were on Wednesday remanded to two additional days of police custody, while three other co-accused have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
All five accused—Sonam, Raj, Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi—were first taken to the Shillong Civil Hospital for a routine medical checkup and before being produced before the session court judge.
The court of Judicial Magistrate (first class) DKK Mihsil granted police custody of Sonam and Raj and the other accused persons to judicial custody.
"Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha were remanded to two days of police custody, while the other three accused were sent to 14 days of judicial custody," prosecution counsel T. Chanda said.
Police requested additional custody of the prime accused as both Sonam and Raj gave contradictory statements during interrogation.
The police also believe that there are several loose ends that need to be addressed, and further custodial interrogation is necessary to uncover the full conspiracy behind the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi.
The victim was killed by the accused, and the whole plot was masterminded by Sonam and her alleged paramour, Raj, even before Sonam’s marriage with Raja on May 11 at Indore.
Earlier, on June 18, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Meghalaya Police recovered a second murder weapon – a machete with a steel handle – from Weisawdong Falls in Sohra, the site where mutilated body of Raja was discovered on June 2.
The evidence was retrieved by the State Disaster Response Force personnel after the accused led investigators to the location during a crime scene recreation exercise.
During the recreation, the four accused - Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused and widow of Raja Raghuvanshi and Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi - revealed that they had two machetes with which they struck a “screaming” Raja on the head three times to kill him.