Family of Indore man killed in Meghalaya demands narco test on wife, her relatives

The elder brother of Raja Raghuvanshi, a transport businessman from Indore who was murdered in Meghalaya on 23 May while on his honeymoon, on Monday demanded that a narco analysis test be conducted not only on Raja’s accused wife Sonam but also on her parents and brother.

“We want a narco test on Sonam, her parents, her brother Govind, and her sister-in-law,” Raja’s elder brother Vipin Raghuvanshi told some media persons in Indore.

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Meanwhile, the family members of the late Raja Raghuvanshi performed his ‘Tehravi’ ceremony at their home in Indore on Monday.

According to Raja’s other elder brother Sachin, the family prepared all the dishes that Raja loved to eat. The offerings included rice, dal, noodles, Manchurian, gulab jamun, and also fruits like bananas and papaya, along with dry fruits.

Govind Raghuvanshi, the brother of Raja’s wife Sonam, was also present with Raja’s family.

Sachin Raghuvanshi, however, remarked, “We did not invite Govind. He might have come to show sympathy, but I did not speak to him during the ceremony.”

Prayers were offered in front of Raja’s garlanded photograph.

Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raja’s wife, along with five men, is currently lodged in a jail in Shillong, Meghalaya. The Meghalaya Police are interrogating them on charges of allegedly conspiring to murder Raja.

Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, and Sonam, 25, both from Indore, got married on 11 May and reached Shillong on 20 May for their honeymoon.

However, the couple went missing on 23 May. Raja’s body was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra (Cherrapunji) area on 2 June.

The Meghalaya Police registered a case of murder and began investigations. Sonam remained missing for the next seven days despite extensive search efforts.

In the early hours of 9 June, Sonam was located at a Dhaba in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. She was initially detained and later arrested on suspicion of being the prime conspirator in her husband’s murder.

Subsequently, four more suspects were arrested — three alleged contract killers from Indore and Bina in Madhya Pradesh, and another suspect from Uttar Pradesh.

The Meghalaya Police secured a transit remand for the four men — Raj Kushwaha, Vishal Chauhan, Anand Kurmi, and Akash Rajput — from a court in Indore and brought them to Shillong late on 10 June.

All five accused were produced before the District and Sessions Court in Shillong on 11 June.

The police requested their custody, following which the court granted eight days of police remand for all the accused including Sonam.