One more held in Raja Raghuvanshi murder case

Indore: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Meghalaya Police Monday arrested one more accused in connection with Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder case.

The arrested person has been identified as Lokendra Singh Tomar, who is said to be the owner of the same flat where Raja’s wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, stayed between May 25 and June 7 after returning to Indore.

Tomar was arrested at MK Plaza in Gwalior around 4:30 pm, following which was brought to Indore. With this fresh arrest, eight persons have been arrested so far in the case.

On Sunday, Meghalaya Police arrested Silome James, a property dealer and tenant of a building in Indore’s Heera Bagh Colony, where Sonam Raghuvanshi had stayed after returning from Meghalaya following the murder, and Balla Ahirwar, a security guard of the building.

They were arrested for allegedly helping the prime accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, the deceased’s wife, and her alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, in disposing of evidence.

Accused Silome James was arrested at the Bhonrasa toll plaza in Dewas district around 7.30 p.m. June 21 while trying to flee to Bhopal. Following this, he was brought to Indore and taken to the spot where he allegedly burnt a box belonging to Sonam that contained multiple items, including jewellery, a laptop, and a firearm allegedly owned by Kushwaha.

The security guard, Balla Ahirwar, who had fled to his native village, was also arrested in the Ashok Nagar district of Madhya Pradesh. The three alleged contract killers are already in jail in Meghalaya.

On Saturday, a court in Meghalaya granted judicial custody of Kushwaha and Sonam. Three members of the SIT have been staying in Madhya Pradesh since June 17 and visiting multiple places linked to the accused.

Sonam and Raja got married May 11. They left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya May 20 and were reported missing May 23 from Sohra town in East Khasi Hills district.

Raja’s decomposed body was found in a deep gorge June 2, while his wife, earlier believed to be missing, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur June 9.

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