A short clip from Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi’s wedding has surfaced on social media, where the latter can be seen applying vermilion on Sonam’s forehead.
According to netizens, Sonam is looking ‘clearly not happy’ with her marriage.
Sonam has been named as the prime accused in her husband’s murder, whose body was found in a gorge on June 2, ten days after the couple had gone missing in Meghalaya during their honeymoon. She was taken into custody after she showed up at a Ghazipur dhaba in the early hours of Monday.
According to an India Today report, Sonam was sent to a 72-hour transit remand later in the day.
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According to the Meghalaya Police, Sonam surrendered before the Nandganj Police Station in Ghazipur district in adjoining Uttar Pradesh and was later placed under arrest.
Four other accused – Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, Raj Singh Kushwaha, and Anand – were arrested from different parts of Madhya Pradesh in connection with the murder case, a PTI report said.
Seven-day transit remand for 3 held
Out of the four arrested, three of them – Rajput, Chauhan, and Kushwaha – were on Monday produced in a district court in Indore, which sent them to a transit custody of the Meghalaya Police for seven days, the PTI report, quoting a police official, said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotia told PTI that the Meghalaya police arrested the trio and produced them before a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Indore.
The cop also said that all three of them were medically examined at a government hospital in Indore before being produced in the court.
“The Meghalaya police will take the three people with them on the basis of transit custody and will question them in detail. We have come to know that these accused know each other before. Two of these accused are friends of Raj Kushwah,” Dandotia said.
Another suspect in the murder case, identified only as Anand, has been detained from Bina in Madhya Pradesh, he said.
Sonam cries innocence, claims to be a victim
Even as the Meghalaya Police named Sonam as one of the prime accused in the case and said she had allegedly hired killers for the murder of her husband, she maintained her innocence before being taken into custody.
A News18 report, quoting police sources, said that Sonam has claimed innocence and alleged abduction. She claimed she was not an accused, but a victim in the case. She claimed that an attempt was made to rob her, after which she fell unconscious and did not remember how she ended up in Ghazipur, an India Today report said.
Chilling details emerge from Raja’s autopsy
An autopsy report revealed that Raja Raghuvanshi was hit twice on his head with a sharp object, news agency PTI said on Monday.
East Khasi Hills district’s SP Vivek Syiem told PTI that the police saw two cuts on his head during the inquest after Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was taken out of the gorge.
A bloodstained machete, which seemed relatively new, was also found near the body, according to police. A gold ring and a neck chain were found missing from Raja’s body, further leading to suspicion that he was murdered.
Raja’s mother has also levied new allegations against Sonam. She said that Sonam made Raja wear gold jewellery worth ₹10 lakh for their honeymoon. When Raja’s mother had questioned him about it, he simply said that Sonam wanted him to wear it.
The couple had left for Meghalaya for their honeymoon on May 20 after getting married on May 11. They arrived at Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter. Two days later, their rented scooter was found abandoned at a cafe along the road from Shillong to Sohra, following which the search for them began, the report said.