The district session court in Shillong extended the police custody of Sonam Raghuvanshi and her ‘lover’ Raj Kushwaha to two more days.
Three others— Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi— were sent to 14-day judicial remand.
All five accused in the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, were earlier remanded to eight days police custody on June 11, after being brought to Meghalaya on transit remand.
The order was passed by Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Don Kitbor Koshy Mihsill after hearing a plea by the police seeking extended custody for interrogation.
Assistant Public Prosecutor T. Chanda informed about the remand but did not speak on the case.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police (SP) Vivek Syiem said the custody was crucial to delve deeper into the suspected conspiracy behind the murder.
“We still need to find out if there is a larger conspiracy. We are yet to recover Sonam’s mobile phone and the missing gold. The purpose of seeking two days’ custody is to conduct further questioning and use this time to corroborate statements with inputs from our team stationed in Indore,” Syiem said.
He further added that after the questioning is complete, the accused will be sent back to judicial custody. “We are not exhausting all our custody days at once. Based on the analysis of evidence and statements, we may seek their custody again if required,” he said.
The SP also revealed that the name ‘Sanjay Verma’ was a fictitious name in true caller. Sonam and Raj had been making “huge” numbers of calls through it, Syiem said without specifying the exact number of calls made.
Reports said over 100 to 200 calls were exchanged between the two through the number.
Earlier in the day, all five accused were taken to Shillong Civil Hospital for medical examination before being produced in court.
The high-profile case continues to draw widespread attention as the investigation intensifies. Police are working to uncover the full extent of the alleged conspiracy behind the murder.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is currently stationed in Indore, where it has questioned the family members of both Sonam and Raja, as well as colleagues of Raj, as part of the ongoing probe.
Sonam and Raja had ostensibly come to Meghalaya for their honeymoon after getting married on May 11.
Sonam, her alleged boyfriend Raj Singh Kushwaha and the three are accused of murdering Raja on May 23 at Weisawdong in the Sohra area of East Khasi Hills. His decomposed body was found in a gorge on June 2.
The woman was arrested from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, while her aides were apprehended from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Raj who did not travel to Meghalaya is alleged to have coordinated aspects of the crime.
