According to the Meghalaya police, Sonam had allegedly hired killers to get rid of her husband during their honeymoon in the north-eastern state last month, just days after their marriage in Indore.
Raghuvanshi, whose family is involved in transport business, got married to Sonam on May 11 in Indore. They left for Meghalaya on May 20 and went missing on May 23.
Raghuvanshi’s body was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area (also known as Cherrapunji) of Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on June 2, as per officials.
“When Raja’s body arrived here, Sonam’s family, whose home is in Govind Nagar Kharcha area, had arranged four-five vehicles for people to attend the funeral. Kushwaha was driving the four-wheeler in which I went, though we did not talk. Only after seeing his photograph in the media after his arrest, I recollected this episode,” said Lakshman Singh Rathore, a neighbour of the accused woman’s family.
East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem on Monday said, “The first person arrested was Rajput from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The second was Chauhan from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The third was Kushwaha, also from Indore.” The three were allegedly hired by Sonam, who surrendered at the Nandganj Police Station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, the Meghalaya police said.
Sonam’s father Devi Singh Raghuvanshi has, however, claimed Kushwaha’s name was being wrongly linked to his daughter and threatened to send a legal notice to Meghalaya police.
On Monday night, police were deployed outside Sonam’s maternal home.
Some locals on Monday burnt Sonam’s photo outside Raja Raghuvanshi’s house in Sahakar Nagar area here, expressing anger over the murder.
They also set ablaze a huge banner, which had been put outside Raja Raghuvanshi’s house, carrying his photograph and images from his wedding and demanding a CBI inquiry into his death. PTI HWP MAS BNM GK