Another murder weapon found from crime scene
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with Sonam Raghuvanshi and her aides in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi at the Wei Sawdong parking lot.
The investigators found during the recreation of the murder that two machetes were used to kill the Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi on May 23. The second machete with a steel handle which was thrown by the accused was recovered by the State Disaster Response Force on Tuesday.
Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused and widow of Raja Raghuvanshi and the other three accused – Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi – were first driven from Shillong to Mawlakhiat village parking lot and then proceeded to Wei Sawdong parking lot where the cold-blooded murder took place.
“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,” Vivek Syiem, the district police chief of East Khasi Hills, said.
The SIT recreated the murder scene by asking a personnel from the Fire and Emergency Service to pose as Raja and the four accused enacted the actual murder scene with their exact positions.
During the recreation of the crime scene which lasted for nearly two hours, the investigators asked how, they struck Raja and then the manner in which they dragged his body to the exact spot and dumped him down the gorge.
“Sonam had already given a signal to them at the parking lot (Wei Sawdong) 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 given 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.
“The reconstruction was videographed and there were independent witnesses. It was very successful,” Syiem said.
The motive of the crime during preliminary investigation was “love triangle,” but Syiem said the investigators are now trying to find out if there is some other motive to the murder.
“Sonam has admitted to the crime again at the reconstruction site…like all criminals they have now shown regret in committing the crime,” Syiem said.
He also informed a team from the SIT to probe more into the murder has left for Indore on Monday and are conducting their investigation.
“They will be going to the rented apartment where Sonam had stayed after fleeing from Shillong. They will also record statement of other individuals,” Syiem said Earlier, the SIT drove down to Mawlakhiat village to identify the routes the four accused undertook and places where they stopped and possibly people whom they spoke to.
This village is on the way to Nongrait village – famed for the double decker root bridge – where Sonam and Raja stayed overnight on May 22 as part of their honeymoon. Investigators says Vishal, Akash and Anand 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 on the way.
“The accused persons stopped in at least five spots at Mawlakhait village and attempted to kill Raja there, but failed. So they came to Wei Sawdong parking lot found it isolated and committed the crime,” Syiem said
Meanwhile, the SIT also took the four accused to AD view point at Mawkma village where a “blood stained raincoat” was found.
The murder of Raja Raghuvanshi came to light after villagers found an abandoned two-wheeler with keys on it at Sohrarim village between Shillong and Sohra road on May 24. The two-wheeler was hired by Raja and Sonam from Meghalaya’s capital Shillong for four days.