Facts surrounding the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi will only be ascertained once thorough interrogation commences, East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem said on Wednesday.
The police officer, who has been continuously hounded by media persons, has been facing a barrage of questions on the sequence of the murder and if Sonam, the prime suspect in the case, had confessed to the crime.
Syiem said that the police are sure that Sonam is involved in the murder and therefore she and the others were arrested. “But only after she is interrogated the full details of her involvement in this crime will be established,” he added.
He said that after receiving their custody they will be interrogated and then it will be ascertained the actual sequence of events. “Right now the facts are fluid. It always happens in a crime that one person will throw the ball to the other. Whose role is exactly what we need to ascertain,” he said.
Earlier, after Sonam was brought to Shillong, she was taken to Ganesh Das Hospital to conduct a pregnancy test on her.
Amid speculation about her health, Syiem clarified that the pregnancy test conducted on her was normal procedure. He said that such tests are standard when a married woman is taken into custody in connection with a criminal case.
In the meantime, the Meghalaya police is also trying to ascertain whether the assailants in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case had done a recce of the area before they committed the crime.
The five accused in the police custody investigation will also try and establish if they have received help from others.
It was earlier reported that either a lot of research or blind luck had been relied upon by the murderers in picking the location for the crime. Weisawdong is a scenic tourist spot but has become less visited as there is a dispute between two villages over ownership of the area.
Yesterday, Syiem said that the five accused did not use the usual Tyrna to Nongriat route, instead taking the Mawlakhiat road, “which is longer and more secluded”. This route may have been selected after an online search for isolated places, “giving them the opportunity to carry out the crime unnoticed.”
Police also said that the three accomplices of Sonam had hired two wheelers to trail the couple to Nongriat and later executed the plan.
The police also said that on May 23 the day of the murder all four, including Sonam rode the two-wheelers back to Shillong and later they took a tourist vehicle to Guwahati.
It remains unclear whether Sonam had prior knowledge of the location. Police believe the plan to kill Raja was already in place, though the exact spot may have been decided later.
