Meghalaya police confirm murder of tourist

Meghalaya police on Tuesday said that a machete was used to murder one of the tourist couple from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, Raja Raghuvanshi, whose decomposed body was retrieved from a gorge at Weisawdong falls after he and his wife went missing while on a honeymoon trip to Sohra (Cherrapunjee).
“We have a recovered a ‘dao’ (machete). It’s a new ‘dao’ and it was just used for this purpose only,” Vivek Syiem, the district police chief of East Khasi Hills told reporters.
“We have no doubt that the victim was murdered. Therefore, we have registered a murder case and destruction of evidence,” Syiem said.
Informing that the mobile phone of the victim was also recovered, the police official said, “The person (Raja) has been murdered, there is no question about it and we have registered a case also for murder and for destruction of evidence. There is no doubt it was a murder. We have to find out what is the motive behind it”.
He further informed that the case has been taken up as top most priority and a special investigation team (SIT) headed by five-member Special Investigation Team headed by Superintendent of Police (Shillong City) Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor is investigating into the case.
The police are also waiting for the post mortem report to ascertain whether Raja died before being thrown or after being thrown down into the deep gorge and would be able to proceed further with its investigation.
“We can’t rule out all possibilities so let the facts come in and yes weapon was used to murder. Whether the motive was for robbery, for vendetta or whether there is any form of hatred or any issue in between the accused and the victims, we need to find that out. We need to look for more evidence and only then we can come to conclusion otherwise at this juncture it is premature to say,” Syiem pointed out.
Family members of Raja on Tuesday said that the deceased was murdered and demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
“We strongly demand an investigation to be conducted by the CBI into the case. The local police (Meghalaya Police) are not agreeing that there is a foul play, but if there is no foul play then why would there be a dead body,” Vipin Raghuvanshi, the brother of the deceased, said. “His (Raja) body was found about 20-25 km from where their abandoned scooter was found. Therefore, we highly suspected that they were kidnapped, robbed and murdered,” Vipin said.
“Raja was wearing two gold rings, a gold chain and a gold bracelet, all these are missing. His wallet too is missing,” he said, adding that the victim’s wife Sonam, who is still missing, was also wearing gold ornaments. “We are not satisfied with the probe being conducted by Meghalaya police. We are seeking a CBI probe so that those behind the tragedy could be found and action taken,” Vipin told reporters at North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), where the post mortem of Raja was conducted.
Meanwhile, the Raghuvanshis have urged the Meghalaya authorities to ensure that Sonam is brought back alive. “We want that she is found alive,” Vipin said.
A police drone spotted Raja’s body in a deep gorge below the Weisawdong parking lot at Riat Arliang after an eight-day search on Tuesday (June 2).
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has joined in the search operation for Sonam together with the State Disaster Response Force, police, West Jaintia Hills District Adventure Mountaineering Club and local villagers.