Meghalaya Murder: The One Mistake by Sonam and Her Lover That Led to Their Arrest in Raja Raghuvanshi’s Killing

Meghalaya Murder: Sonam Raghuvanshi, wife of the Indore man, Raja Raghuvanshi, who was found dead in Meghalaya during their honeymoon, has surrendered to the Police in Uttar Pradesh, in connection to the murder of her husband. Sonam had reportedly gone missing after her husband's body was discovered in a gorge beneath the Weisawdong Falls parking lot in East Khasi Hills on June 2.

After days of search, Sonam was located and taken into custody from Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh. She surrendered at the Nandganj police station late Sunday night.

Here’s how the foolproof murder plan by Sonam Raghuvanshi and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha failed — and how police uncovered the truth step by step.

Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam Raghuvanshi got married on May 11, 2025, in Indore. Nine days later, on May 20, they left for their honeymoon. The couple originally planned to go to Kashmir, but after reports of terror attacks, they chose the scenic destination of Meghalaya instead.

The couple had reached Mawlakhiyat village on a rented scooter on May 22. They parked their scooter and climbed down over 3,000 steps from the valley to see the famous ‘living roots’ bridges in Nongriat village, where they spent the night at a homestay and left the next morning, officials said.

On May 23, around 6am, the couple checked out of their homestay and left for sightseeing on a rented scooter. After that, they lost contact with their families.

The couple’s scooter was found abandoned outside a cafe on the road from Shillong to Sohra on May 24, following which the Meghalaya police launched a search and rescue operation. The operation was affected due to heavy rain in Sohra, officials said.

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Investigators suspect Sonam may have had an affair with Raj, which could have been a motive behind Raja’s murder.

According to Meghalaya Special Investigation Team (SIT) chief Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor, Raja suffered two fatal head injuries, which might have been inflicted by a sharp weapon.

Sonam’s father, Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, strongly rejects the Meghalaya police narrative. He said, “This entire false story is concocted due to their failure to investigate. We demand a CBI probe. I’ll send a legal notice for tarnishing my daughter’s image. She is totally innocent.”

Meanwhile, Raja’s mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, said, “Raja didn’t want to go to Meghalaya. It was Sonam who planned and booked the trip without return tickets.

She forced him to wear a gold chain, and I objected when Raja told me mid-trip. I even spoke to Sonam’s mother.

Sonam was sweet and cultured; I treated her as my daughter. I wanted the marriage to wait a year for a good muhurat, but her father rushed it. If Sonam didn’t want to be with my son, she could have left, but why did he have to die? If she’s behind his killing, she should get the death penalty.”

Sonam, reported missing for over two weeks, was finally located at a highway dhaba in Uttar Pradesh on early Monday, disoriented and alone, nearly 1,200km from the crime scene where her husband’s body was found on June 2.

Police alleged Sonam, 24, orchestrated the 28-year-old Indore transporter’s killing with help from four men with no previous criminal record, one of whom was her boyfriend-Raj Kushwaha, 21, a man employed in her father’s business.

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On June 2, the Meghalaya Police found Raja’s decomposed body in a deep gorge near the Wei Sawdong waterfall. His face was unrecognisable due to decomposition, but a tattoo on his hand with the name “Raja” confirmed his identity. The post-mortem revealed that Raja was hit twice on the head with a sharp weapon, confirming it was a murder.

On June 4, Investigators found additional evidence at the location, including a woman’s white shirt, a strip of medicine, a damaged mobile phone screen, and a smartwatch. A case of homicide was officially registered.

Everything was going according to Sonam’s plan — until she made a critical mistake. According to the Meghalaya Police, the first clue they found was the machete used in Raja’s murder. A senior officer in the investigation said, “This type of machete is not commonly used in the region, which made us suspect the involvement of someone from outside the area. We then decided to investigate the couple’s call records.”

Later, Uttar Pradesh Police was contacted, leading to her arrest.

At around 6.30 pm on Monday, a team of Meghalaya Police took Sonam into custody from the one-stop centre.

Although she was apprehended from the eatery, police said Sonam surrendered before the Nandganj police station in Ghazipur district.

"The first person arrested was Rajput from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. The second was Chauhan from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The third was Kushwaha, also from Indore," East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said at a press conference in Shillong.

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