Sonam Raghuvanshi confessed to hatching a plan to get her husband killed with the help of her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, who, too, confessed to the crime a day before.
New Delhi: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the woman accused of plotting her husband Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, broke down in front of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) when she was presented with the evidence gathered against her, sources said.
She also confessed to orchestrating the plan to get her husband killed with the help of her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, who, too, confessed to the crime a day before, sources added.
According to sources, Sonam, who had mysteriously surfaced 1,300 kilometres away from Shillong at 3 am on Monday, initially tried to portray herself as a victim of robbery. During the 27-hour journey from Ghazipur to Shillong, she did not speak to any police personnel. When the questioning began at 11 am, she repeated her claim of being a robbery victim, sources further said.
However, when the SIT of the Shillong Police presented the chain of evidence, including CCTV footage showing her meeting the killers after the crime, call records, and physical evidence such as a raincoat and a blood-stained shirt recovered from the crime scene and later identified as hers, Sonam reportedly broke down in tears and confessed.
Shillong SP Vivek said, “We have solid evidence against Sonam that proves her involvement in the murder.”
On June 10, Raj Kushwaha-Sonam’s alleged lover-and the three contract killers he hired, Vishal Singh Chauhan, Akash Rajput, and Anand Kurmi, confessed to their involvement in Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder.
According to ACP Poonam Chand Yadav, who spoke exclusively to India Today TV, the accused not only admitted to carrying out the murder but also revealed that Raja’s wife, Sonam, was present at the scene and “watched her husband die”.
Sonam and Raja got married on May 11 in Indore and travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon. On May 23, the couple checked out of a homestay in Nongriat village. Ten days later, Raja’s body was found in a 200-foot-deep gorge, located nearly 20 km away.
Police say Raja was murdered by the three men allegedly hired by Raj Kushwaha, who was reportedly in touch with Sonam throughout. All four accused are currently in police custody.
Meanwhile, Sonam Raghuvanshi’s brother, Govind, has also spoken out, stating he is convinced of his sister’s role in the murder. “According to the evidence found so far, I am 100 per cent sure that she has committed this murder. All the accused in this case are related to Raj Kushwaha. We have broken our ties with Sonam Raghuvanshi. I apologise to Raja’s family,” he said.
Govind also revealed that Raja called Sonam ‘didi’ and she had been tying a rakhi to him for the last three years. “Had we known about their relationship, we would never have allowed this to happen,” he said.
