Even though an astrologer’s advice to the father of missing newly-married woman of Indore, Sonam Raghuvanshi, to hang her photograph upside down outside their house to find her, turned out to be successful and she was found, but ironically instead of being a victim, Sonam is suspected to be the alleged mastermind behind the brutal murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, in Sohra, Meghalaya on 23 May.

Sonam, 25, was detained from a dhaba in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, in the wee hours of Monday, while four alleged hired killers were arrested from Madhya Pradesh today.

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According to Indore Additional DCP Rajesh Dandotiya, three accused were arrested from Indore and one from Bina in Madhya Pradesh. They include Raj Kushwaha, Vishal Chouhan, and Akash Rajput from Indore, and Anand from Basari village in Bina.

Sources said that Sonam and Raj Kushwaha had an affair, and Sonam allegedly hired Raj and his friends to kill 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi. Raj Kushwaha works at the plywood shop of Sonam Raghuvanshi’s father, Devi Singh, in Indore.

Meanwhile Devi Singh claimed that the story of Sonam being the main mastermind is fabricated. He alleged that the Meghalaya police want to deviate attention from the actual conspiracy. Singh reiterated his demand for a CBI inquiry, saying that he would pursue the case till justice was done. Devi Singh said he does not know the arrested Raj Kushwaha.

Deceased Raja Raghuvanshi’s grieving mother, Uma, said that Sonam had booked the tickets for the couple’s honeymoon trip. The mother added that her son told her that he did not want to go, but Sonam had booked the tickets already. The mother said that she told her son to go then, if the tickets were already booked.

She, however, revealed today that only one-way flight tickets had been booked, but the return tickets had not. “Those guilty of murdering my son must get the death penalty,” the mother stated.

Raja Raghuvanshi’s brother, Vipin, said that they would wait for further investigations before accusing anyone or coming to any conclusions. Vipin, nonetheless, said that if Sonam was indeed guilty, then she should be punished.

Another significant revelation that has come out through sources is that Sonam had withdrawn Rs nine lakh from her bank account just before leaving for the honeymoon, and she also carried jewellery with her from home.

Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi, a transport businessman, got married at Indore on 11 May. They reached Shillong on 20 May on their honeymoon.

However, they went missing on 23 May. Raja’s body was recovered from a deep gorge in the Sohra area on 2 June, but Sonam was missing until the wee hours of Monday, when she was spotted and detained from a dhaba in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

A few days after Sonam went missing, Devi Singh hung Sonam’s photo upside down, outside the main door of his house at Govind Colony in Banganga area of Indore. He had said that an astrologer told him to do so, as it would prove fruitful in finding his missing daughter, Sonam.