CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Eastern Range, Meghalaya Police, Davis R Marak revealed a series of glaring red flags that turned the tide of the investigation—including the unsettling absence of honeymoon photographs and the discovery of a Mangalsutra inside a suitcase.
“There were also factors like, for instance, a newly married couple has come to Sohra for honeymoon, and there was nothing posted on the social media, no photographs taken of the couple and all that—so these were the red flags for the police to investigate the angle that it is probably an inside job,” said DIG Marak, pointing to the couple's complete digital silence as a key trigger for suspicion.
Recounting the early days of the probe, Marak said the police initially kept all options open. “When the report came to us of this missing couple, we were not sure what the circumstances were and under what circumstances they had gone missing. So we thought maybe it could have been an accident, robbery or murder. So we were not ruling out anything at that point in time,” he stated.
The case took a critical turn when the couple’s belongings were recovered. “Later, from one of the homestays in Sohra, we recovered the suitcases of the missing couple. Surprisingly, in the suitcase, we found the mangalsutra and one ring. We were surprised because usually we do not expect the newly wedded woman to take off her Mangalsutra and go roaming,” he said.
That single find became the lynchpin in expanding the investigation’s scope. “That was where we expanded our investigation. We also included the possibility of Sonam being a part of some sort of criminal activity, and that is how we proceeded with the total investigation,” Marak explained.
Outlining the cumulative suspicions that followed, DIG Marak said, “It was one of the red flags in the sense that there were certain inconsistencies in the facts that were before the police at that point in time. Like, for instance, we have recovered the body, we have recovered the murder weapon, but the girl was missing; there was a case of this Mangalsutra."
Davis R. Marak also confirmed that three scooties were used in the Sohra honeymoon murder case, with two hired from Shillong by the contract killers and one by the victim, Raja Raghuvanshi, and his wife, Sonam.
“We got reports that they hired scooties and this has been confirmed. A total of three scooties were hired,” said Marak.
According to the police, the scooty used by Raja and Sonam was later found abandoned at Sohra Rim, raising suspicion over who left it behind. “A scooty was abandoned at Sohra rim; it must be either contract killers or Sonam herself because there were three scooties, and it appears they were together at that point in time, and the scooty (in which Raja and Sonam travelled) was abandoned at Sohra rim with the key of the scooty, and thereafter Sonam got into one of the scooties with the killer.”
He revealed that Sonam had initially travelled part of the way with the killers before separating and heading to Guwahati and later Indore. “It appears that halfway to Mawkdok, she went along with the other accused persons, and from Mawkdok, the contract killers went ahead, and Sonam proceeded from there to Guwahati and then, thereafter, to Indore,” Marak added.
He also mentioned that the couple and the killers arrived in Sohra around the same time. “The couple and the killers, they arrived more or less at the same time.”
Police have since recovered the scooties used in the crime. “All the persons who are directly involved in the killing of Raja have been arrested. If there are any more accused persons, we will establish that in the course of the investigation,” DIG Marak said.
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