The Meghalaya Police are still probing to unearth a motive beyond the one the relationship between the accused Raj Kushwaha and Sonam Raghuvanshi, Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang said Monday as police investigation into the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi.
At a press briefing, the DGP said that the motive currently cited in the case “doesn’t sit very well”. Raja was hacked to death on May 23 while honeymooning in the northeastern state. His wife Sonam, her boyfriend Raj and three hitmen were arrested in connection with the murder on June 9.
“I find it very difficult to accept the motive given by the accused… I am looking to see if there’s anything additional because I find it very difficult to believe that a person would generate so much animosity that within a couple of days of marriage you plot to kill a person… On the surface, it appears to be a love triangle but personally I wouldn’t believe that it’s the only motive,” she said.
She said that the investigation is probing all possible angles.
“The investigation is going on, a lot of the loose ends are being tied up and we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the investigation is foolproof and that we have a very solid case. We have enough evidence and are working to ensure that the case is chargesheeted within the mandated time,” she said.
This comes at a time when a video showing Raja trekking through a forest with Sonam has now surfaced, capturing his final hours before he was killed by hired assassins in Meghalaya’s treacherous terrain.
The footage, recorded by an unsuspecting tourist on May 23 at approximately 9:45 am, shows the couple trekking up a steep mountain path in Meghalaya’s lush landscape. Tourist Dev Singh, who was descending the same trail, captured the pair climbing steadily upward—with the prime suspect, Sonam Raghuvanshi, leading the way in a distinctive white T-shirt, her husband Raja following close behind.
The white T-shirt she was wearing would later be discovered by Meghalaya police near the crime scene.
The tourist who shot the video, Dev Singh wrote on Instagram: “Yesterday, I was checking videos and I found a recording of the Indore couple. It was around 9:45 am when we were going down, and the couple was going up. I think this was the last recording of the couple, and Sonam was wearing the same white T-shirt, which was found near Raja. I hope this will also help Meghalaya police in connecting the dots.”
He added with obvious distress: “Every time I watched Raja in the video, I felt very bad about him. He was looking normal but unaware of what would be waiting for him”.
Following the questioning of the accused, the police said the newlywed couple checked out of Shipara Homestay in Nongriat at 5:30 am, setting out for what Raja believed would be a romantic trek through Cherrapunji’s scenic trails just 30 minutes later.
Unknown to Raja, three hired killers—Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Chauhan—had allegedly checked out of their nearby accommodation at precisely the same time, shadowing the couple’s every move as part of an elaborate murder plot orchestrated by his own wife and her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha.
By 10:00 am, after completing approximately 2,000 steps along the treacherous mountain path, fate intervened. The couple allegedly encountered the three assassins at a predetermined location, with a local guide later reporting he had spotted all five individuals together, noting how Sonam had begun walking conspicuously behind the group as the killers engaged her husband in conversation.
At 12:30 pm, in what would prove to be a calculated deception, Sonam allegedly called Raja’s mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, complaining of exhaustion from the demanding trek. Raja himself allegedly spoke to his mother during this call—their final conversation forever etched in tragedy.
Just one hour later, the group of five allegedly drove from Mawlakhiat to the parking area near Wei Sawdong Waterfalls. There, in the isolated wilderness, the hired killers allegedly murdered Raja before disposing of his body in a remote gorge.
What initially appeared to be a missing person’’s case took a sinister turn on June 2 when police discovered Raja’s remains, immediately launching a murder investigation. The web of deception began unravelling on the night of June 7, when the “missing” wife was allegedly found unconscious at a roadside dhaba in Ghazipur.
