Guwahati:
A property dealer and a security guard have been arrested in connection with Meghalaya’s honeymoon murder — the murder of Indore transporter Raja Raghuvanshi, allegedly by his wife Sonam. Sources said the Meghalaya police had kept them on their scanner for long.
Property dealer Silome James had rented out a flat at Indore’s Hirabagh locality to alleged hitman Vishal alias Vicky.
Vicky was arrested along with two other hitmen – Akash and Anand – and Sonam Raghuvanshi and her allege boyfriend and mastermind of the crime Raj Kushwaha.
Police sources said Sonam Rahuvanshi had stayed in the flat from May 26 to June 8, before she was detained from a eatery on the highway in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
The security guard — Balbir Ahirbar, alias ‘Ballu’ — had gone missing since the arrest of Sonam Raghuvanshi and four others, police sources said. He was arrested today from Indore, where he was hiding. The police suspect he holds vital information on the movement of the accused and other developments within the premises.
Raja Raghuvanshi was killed on May 23 – the police said Sonam Raghuvanshi had given the signal for the attack. The police said after the murder, Sonam Raghuvanshi had fled via Guwahati.
James, who has been interrogated twice before by Meghalaya Special Investigation Team, has been arrested for tampering with evidence. He had allegedly shifted the bag that Sonam had carried from Meghalaya to Indore.
Meghalaya SIT had raided the rented flat where Sonam was hiding but found it empty.
The police were looking for a black bag Sonam had carried back and was given to Vishal and a phone she was using while in hiding to connect to Raj. They were also looking for Raja’s jewellery and Rs 5 lakh in cash they were carrying. Indore police sources said they had come to know that Raj Kushwaha had kept a country-made pistol in that flat, sources added.
During two previous questioning sessions, James had pleaded innocence.
Sonam Raghuvanshi had told the police that she left the bag in the flat on June 8 and left for Gazipur in a rented cab as soon as they heard Akash and Anand were arrested.
Two days later, Silome James went to the rented flat, opened it with the master key and removed the bag and other items, police sources said.
Silome James was allegedly seen in one of the many CCTV footage of that area that Indore Crime Branch collected for Meghalaya SIT, sources further added.
Sources said when the Meghalaya SIT called James seeking a meeting, he claimed he was traveling to Bhopal and would meet them on Monday. Then he switched off his phone, which raised an alarm.
