Meghalaya Police: Raj was mastermind behind Raja’s murder, with three backup plans in place

Meghalaya Police have uncovered shocking details in the murder case of Raja Raghuvanshi, revealing that his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi’s alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, was the mastermind behind the entire plot.

During interrogation of Sonam and the four other accused, police learned that the murder was carefully planned in Indore months before Raja and Sonam’s wedding. The accused confessed to the crime, with Sonam admitting her involvement and partnership in the conspiracy.

“The plan was hatched just before her marriage to Raja. Raj was the mastermind, and Sonam was fully complicit,” said Vivek Syiem, Superintendent of Police in East Khasi Hills district.

The three main killers—Akash Thakur, Anand Kurmi, and Vishal Chauhan—are friends, with one being Raj’s cousin. Contrary to earlier speculation about a contract killing, interrogation showed the murder was a favor for their friend Raj. Planning began as early as February, three months before the wedding.

Police revealed the killers even had multiple backup plans to eliminate Raja. They considered making Sonam “disappear” by staging an accident, such as having her swept away in a river or planting another woman’s body in her scooter to fake her death. However, none of these plans came to fruition.

When Raja and Sonam married and visited Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati on May 20, the killers were already in the city, ready to strike. Their plan to kill Raja in Guwahati failed, so they shifted focus to Shillong and then Sohra.

On May 23, in Nongriat near Sohra, the group met up and proceeded to Weisawdong Falls. It was there, in the parking lot, that the three assailants attacked and fatally hacked Raja while Sonam was present. His body was then dumped into a nearby gorge.

The entire murder and body disposal happened within 18 minutes, between 2 pm and 2:18 pm. After the attack, Sonam handed her blood-stained raincoat to Akash, who threw it away later that day—a raincoat police recovered on June 4, two days after Raja’s body was found.

The four fled on three scooters—two rented by the killers, one rented by Raja and Sonam. Sonam herself rode one of the scooters. Later, she changed into a burqa provided by Vishal, following instructions from Raj, and fled first to Shillong, then to Guwahati.

From there, she traveled extensively: boarding buses and trains through Siliguri, Patna, Arrah, Lucknow, and finally back to Indore.

However, police were already on their trail. When the first arrest (of Akash) was made on June 8 in Uttar Pradesh, Raj panicked and instructed Sonam to pose as an abduction victim to mislead the investigation.

Following his instructions, Sonam contacted her family claiming she had escaped an abduction. She was found at a tea shop in Ghazipur, UP, on June 9, where she was taken into police custody