Sohra killing: Second steel-handled machete found as accused reveal grisly details
Fire personnel posed as Raja as accused recreated murder scene, revealing how each struck from their position
Sohra, June 18: The Meghalaya police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has managed to retrieve the second murder weapon – a machete with a steel handle – used in the murder of Indore Tourist Raja Raghuvanshi in Sohra.
The crucial piece of evidence was retrieved by the State Disaster Response Force personnel after the accused printed to the spot during the crime scene recreation at Weisawdong Falls where the mutilated body of Raja was discovered on June 2.
During the crime 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.
“Three blows were inflicted on Raja. The first blow on Raja was inflicted by Vishal alias Vicky. The second blow by Anand and the third blow by Akash,” Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem informed to the press.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) recreated the murder scene by asking a Fire Brigade service personnel to pose as Raja and the four accused enacted the actual murder with their exact positions.
“Sonam had already given a signal to them at the parking lot (Weisawdong) to finish the job. Sonam was close by, in fact she was in front when this happened and Raja was behind. Vishal was to the right of Raja and Akash was just behind, but to the left and Anand was also to the left.
“When the first hit was inflicted by Vishal and blood spilled out and Raja had fallen, Sonam ran away from that scene because Raja was screaming. The body was thrown by the three of them, two of them held him by his hands and one from the legs,” Syiem added.
After the crime the murder weapon (machetes) were thrown down the gorge.
The reconstruction was videographed and there were independent witnesses. “It was very successful,” Syiem said adding, the motive of the crime during preliminary investigation was “love triangle”, but the investigators are trying to find out if there is some other motive.
“Sonam has admitted to the crime again at the reconstruction site…like all criminals they have now shown remorse in committing the crime,” Syiem said.
Earlier, the SIT drove down to Mawlakhait village to identify the routes they undertook and places where they stopped and possibly people whom they spoke to.
This village sits atop Nongrait village, with the famed double-decker root bridge, where Sonam and Raja stayed overnight on May 22 for their honeymoon.
According to investigators the three accused had befriended Raja at Nongriat and got into a conversation with him on their return journey from the village. They had planned to kill Raja in any isolated location during the return journey.