Sonam Raghuvanshi Arrested 2,058 KM Away From Shillong in Uttar Pradesh

Sonam Raghuvanshi Arrest: The arrests were made in coordination and support of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Police.

Sonam Raghuvanshi, wife of Raja Raghuvanshi surrendered before the police at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. Sonam reportedly contacted her brother at around 2:30AM today before she surrendered before the police. Three more assailants, one of whom is Sonam’s lover Raju Kushwaha, have also been arrested.

Addressing the media in Shillong on Monday, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynson said that the arrests began around 10 pm Sunday night and continued in sequence through the night and into this morning in which altogether 5 people including Sonam have been arrested and Meghalaya Police is in the process of bringing them to Shillong. The arrests were made in coordination and support of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Police.

Tynsong said, “Four people were arrested. Sonam has surrendered herself in UP, so that makes it five people. We are in the process of bringing her to Shillong for further investigation… All these days they have blamed the people and government of Meghalaya. Since we have already arrested the accused, everything will become clearer to them and one day they will have to withdraw their statements against Meghalaya… Meghalaya is safe, and they need to learn not to jump to conclusions without getting all the facts and details. It creates confusion… Our police force has performed exceptionally well and the police and our government, including the CM would hardly sleep because we wanted to solve this mystery at the earliest…”

Speaking in detail about the arrests, East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said, “The first person arrested was Akash Rajput, 19 years old, from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The second was Vishal Singh Chauhan, 22 years old, from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The third was Raj Singh Khushwaha, 21 years old, also from Indore. Sonam Raghuvanshi is currently in police custody. This afternoon, at 12 noon, we arrested Anand Kurmi, 23 years old, from Sadar district, Madhya Pradesh. In total, four people have been arrested and one person is detained.”

Earlier in the morning Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma wrote on X, “Within 7 days a major breakthrough has been achieved by the Meghalaya Police in the Raja murder case … 3 assailants who are from Madhya Pradesh have been arrested, female has surrendered and operation still on to catch 1 more assailant .. well done Meghalaya Police”.

The tourist guide named Albert Pde proved to provide the critical bit of clue when he said that he saw the couple with three other Hindi-speaking tourists. Because they were conversing in Hindi, he could not understand what they were saying.

So, how did the Uttar Pradesh Police reach Sonam Raghuvanshi at Kashi Dhaba at Ghaziabad?

Sahil Yadav, owner of Kashi Dhaba, where UP Police found Sonam Raghuvanshi late Monday night, told media “Sonam came here around 1 AM. She wanted my phone to call her family members, and I gave it to her. She started crying when she called her family. I took my phone from her and gave them the details about Sonam’s location. She did not look mentally fine. After some time, her brother called me and asked me to inform the local police. Police arrived and took her. Sonam was alone, I gave her water…”

Speaking to media, Uttar Pradesh ADGP, Law and Order, Amitabh Yash said, “Sonam Raghuvanshi called her family members at around 3 AM and informed them that she was present at the Kashi Dhaba on Varanasi-Ghazipur main road. Indore Police informed the Ghazipur Police and they took her to the hospital and then to the One Stop Centre in Ghazipur. Meghalaya Police was present in Indore to investigate this case. Sonam Raghuvanshi will be handed over to Meghalaya Police as soon as they reach Ghazipur. UP Police has not interrogated Sonam Raghuvanshi.”
Ghazipur SP Iraj Raja said “We are in contact with the Madhya Pradesh Police and the Meghalaya Police. Their teams are going to reach here soon. They will do further investigation. Sonam spoke to her family members, who informed the Madhya Pradesh Police. The concerned police will investigate the incident that took place in Meghalaya. We were just informed to recover Sonam from the spot…”.

Unable to come to terms with the fact that her daughter-in-law is now being accused of killing her son, Raja Raghuvanshi’s mother Uma Raghuvanshi told media, “If Sonam loved my son, she wouldn’t have left my son to die. How is she safe?… All people behind this should be strictly punished.”

She said that it was Sonam who planned their honeymoon. Raja wanted to go to Sri Lanka but Sonam booked the tickets for Meghalaya but did not book their return tickets.

Sonam’s father, Devi Singh is in a state of denial. He claimed his daughter’s innocence and accused the Meghalaya Police of “lying” after they claimed that she “hired” assailants to kill her spouse. “My daughter is innocent. I have trust in my daughter. She cannot do this. They got married with the consent of both families. The Meghalaya Government has been lying from the beginning. We were thinking of meeting Madhya Pradesh CM and then Union HM Amit Shah to request a CBI inquiry. Meghalaya Police is making up stories. Let the CBI inquiry begin, all officers at the police station in Meghalaya will be behind bars”.

Developments are now coming thick and fast in this mysterious case of the Indore Couple Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam Raghuvanshi who went missing at Sohra in East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya on May 23. Ten days after, on June 2, the decomposed body was recovered from a gorge near Weisawdong Falls while there was no trace of Sonam despite the massive search being conducted.

Also Read: Indore couple case: Raja Raghuvansi’s wife Sonam was found at Varanasi-Ghazipur main road, says UP Police

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