Bhopal: Two of the 3 men who killed Madhya Pradesh man, Raja Raghwanshi on the orders of his wife, in Meghalaya have retracted their ‘confession’ statement, police said. The two have refused to testify against themselves in front of the magistrate, said police.
Two accused remained silent: Police
The Superintendent of Police of Shillong City, Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor said that two of the accused, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi refused to make any statement in front of the magistrate. They chose to remain silent, when presented before the magistrate, he said. The police officer is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the murder of Raghuwanshi.
Kharkongor said that only 2 of the 5 accused arrested in the case were sent to the magistrate. They however did not want to make any statement in front of the magistrate. The officer however said that his department had enough evidence to nail the accused in the case. The police are also waiting for the forensic report in the matter, before presenting the case.
The Meghalaya Police had earlier claimed that all the accused in the case, including Raja’s wife, Sonam Raghuwanshi had confessed to the crime.
The Shillong City SP was quoted by NDTV as saying that confessions before the police are not admissible in court. He also said that an accused has the right to not make a confessional statement in front of the magistrate. But, he once again emphasised that material evidence was the most important and his team had enough of the same against all the 5 accused.
The accused in the case apart from Rajput and Kurmi are Sonam Raghuwanshi, Vishal Singh Chauhan, who helped Sonam and murder Raja and Sonam’s boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha. All 5 of them plotted and killed Raja while he was in Meghalaya for his honeymoon, with wife Sonam last month.
The couple, Raja and Sonam got married on May 11. Soon after the marriage, they left for Meghalaya for their honeymoon. The police said that the woman was in a relationship with Raj Kushwaha and did not want to marry Raja. However, probably under family pressure she agreed to the marriage. But the urge to be with her lover did not leave her heart.
Sonam then planned to eliminate her husband and for this made an elaborate plan. While the 2 were in Meghalaya, she hired contract killers and got her husband killed. Raja and Sonam disappeared on May 23, after leaving a homestay in Nongriat village. On June 2, Raja’s body was recovered some 20 kilometres away from the homestay. Sonam was reported missing.
However, days of searching did not reveal her whereabouts. Then she mysteriously appeared in Ghazipur on June 8. She surrendered at the Nandganj Police Station. The surrender came after Akash, Vishal and Anand were arrested from Uttar Pradesh and Indore and Sagar towns. Later the police also arrested Raj.
On June 11, Sonam reportedly confessed to killing her husband. She also told police that she paid a good amount to the killers. The payment was made by her cousin Jitendra Raghuvanshi. Following the revelations, Sonam’s family claimed to have snapped all ties with her. Her brother said that they would help Raja’s family get justice for their dead son.