New Delhi:
A property dealer from Indore who rented a flat to one of Raja Raghuvanshi’s killers after the sinister crime has been arrested for allegedly concealing crucial evidence.
According to the Meghalaya Special Investigation Team (SIT), officials said Silome James had rented a flat in Indore’s Hirabagh locality to one of three killers – Vishal Singh Chauhan. The victim’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi – who is the prime accused in the murder case – is also believed to have stayed in the flat between May 26 and June 8, before she surrendered to the police.
During her interrogation, Sonam said she left a black-coloured bag in the flat on June 8 and left for Ghazipur. Sonam’s phone, Raja’s jewellery, Rs five lakh cash, and a country-made pistol were also kept in the flat. However, when the police raided the house, they did not find anything. The police then interrogated the flat’s property dealer, James, twice – but he did not reveal anything.
Preliminary investigation, however, revealed that two days after Sonam surrendered, James went to the flat and removed the bag and other evidence items. He was allegedly caught concealing the evidence in one of the CCTV cameras collected by the Meghalaya SIT.
When the cops called James for interrogation last evening based on the footage, he claimed to be travelling to Bhopal and informed them that he would speak to them on Monday. Minutes later, he switched off his phone. James was arrested around 7:30 pm from the Bhonrasa Toll gate in Madhya Pradesh while he was trying to flee.
The police will interrogate James once they get his police remand, and later will be taken to Shillong on a transit remand – similar to other accused.
The Honeymoon Murder Case
Raja and Sonam got married on May 11. Nine days later, they left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya on May 20 – with a one-way ticket in hand. The couple roamed around in the Northeast for three days before going “missing”. When their family members could not reach them, they reached out to the police.
What initially started as a probe to find the couple, turned into a murder investigation when Raja’s body was found in a gorge on June 2, ten days after the brutal crime. His preliminary autopsy report revealed that he was attacked twice – once each on the back and front of his head. On the night of June 7, the ‘missing’ wife was found in an unconscious state at a ‘dhaba’ in Ghazipur. She was taken to the Ghazipur Medical College for treatment, where she surrendered before the police. The remaining three killers were also subsequently arrested.
Preliminary investigation revealed that during their honeymoon, Sonam and Raja carried four phones ( of which three belonged to Sonam). After the three hitmen killed her husband, Sonam broke his phone and threw the damaged device, the police said.
The other three mobile phones that belonged to Sonam are still missing, and the police are searching for them.
