Shillong: A Shillong court on Tuesday examined a key prosecution witness from Indore through video conferencing in connection with the murder case of transport businessman Raja Raghuvanshi.
The witness, Pramod Sahu, also known as Piyush, was examined and cross-examined before being discharged.
The court remanded the accused persons to judicial custody till February 17.
As per reports, the police recently filed a second chargesheet in the case, naming co-accused Shilom James under provisions of the Arms Act and for destruction of evidence.
Meanwhile, the case took an unexpected turn with the court clearing two of the earlier accused — security guard Babir Singh Ahirwar and building owner Lokendra Singh Tomar — after finding no evidence to support the charges against them.
The decision weakened the initial police claim that the two had helped conceal material linked to the murder.
Both had been arrested earlier by Shillong police on suspicion of hiding a bag belonging to Shilom James, one of the key accused in the case. During the course of the investigation, however, police were unable to establish any direct role played by them in the crime, following which the court granted them relief.
Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore-based transport businessman, had married Sonam on May 11, 2024. The couple left Indore for their honeymoon on May 20 and reached Meghalaya shortly after.
On May 22, they travelled to Sohra, about 80 kilometres from Shillong, where they rented a two-wheeler to tour the area.
When contact with the couple was lost, their family alerted the authorities, leading to a search operation on May 27. Persistent rainfall slowed down the effort, forcing teams to resume the search a few days later.
Raja’s body was eventually found in a deep gorge on June 2. A post-mortem examination later confirmed that he had been killed with a sharp wood-cutting weapon.
Sonam was traced a week later, on June 9, at a roadside dhaba in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
Till now, eight people have been arrested in connection with the case. Police said the probe is still underway and further forensic and circumstantial evidence is being examined to establish the full sequence of events.