Indore Murder Case: Accused Sent to Meghalaya Police Custody

Indore, June 10 (PTI) - A 23-year-old man accused of the murder of Indore-based transport businessman Raja Raghuvanshi was presented in a district court on Tuesday. The court sent him to the transit custody of Meghalaya police for seven days, an official stated.

Indore's Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rajesh Dandotia, informed PTI that the Meghalaya police had produced the accused, Anand Kurmi, before the court. Kurmi has been placed in transit custody until June 16, upon the request of the Meghalaya police, the official added.

Kurmi was apprehended in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district on Monday and brought to Indore, according to the police official. Earlier, on Monday, three other accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case—Raj Kushwaha, Vishal Chauhan, and Akash Rajput—were sent to the transit custody of the Meghalaya police for a similar duration.

The Meghalaya police plan to transfer all four accused under the order of the transit custody, the official indicated. The accused individuals, aged between 20 to 25 years, have no known criminal history in local police records, he mentioned.

Raja Raghuvanshi's wife, Sonam, aged 25, allegedly implicated in her husband’s murder, surrendered at the Nandganj Police Station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district. Subsequently, she was placed under arrest, according to reports from the Meghalaya police.

Sonam allegedly hired killers to murder her husband during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, mere days after their marriage in Indore, the reports suggested.

It was alleged that Sonam was romantically involved with one of the accused, Raj Kushwaha. Sonam’s family resides in the Govind Nagar Kharcha area of Indore, where they manage a business dealing in Sunmica sheets used for furniture.

Kushwaha, who dropped out after Class 12, worked as an accountant in the family's establishment, Dandotia revealed. The newly wedded couple, Raja and Sonam, had gone missing during a visit to Meghalaya for their honeymoon on May 23, sources stated.

Raghuvanshi’s body was discovered on June 2 in a deep ravine near a waterfall in the Sohra region, also known as Cherrapunji, part of Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district. The Raghuvanshi family, rooted in Indore, is engaged in the transport business, and Raja married Sonam on May 11 before departing for Meghalaya on May 20.