Shillong (Meghalaya) [India], June 19 : Meghalaya Police on Thursday said that it had sought two days' police custody of Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha as they needed to develop more things in the investigation of Raja Raghuvanshi's murder case.
East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem's statement came after the Shillong Court sent Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha to two days of police custody and the other three accused to 14 days of judicial custody.
Speaking with media, East Khasi Hills SP said, "We sought 2-day police remand as our team is still in Indore. We need to develop more things. As we get more input from them, we can question these people. If needed, we will take further custody."
SP Vivek Syiem said that police will seek custody of the other three accused after they have finished their investigation with Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha.
"The rest have been sent to judicial custody, but after completing our work with Sonam and Raj, we will probably return to the remaining three accused and seek police custody again," he said.
The police is yet to recover the third phone used in the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi
"She (Sonam Raghuvanshi) had three phones, and two of them she destroyed and threw away, and our team is still searching for the third phone. Sanjay Verma is just a fictitious name registered in Truecaller, and the real person holding that SIM number is actually Raj Kushwaha," SP Vivek Syiem said.
Further informing about the case, SP Vivek Syiem informed that the police have also identified the driver of the car who transported Sonam Raghuvanshi from Indore to Uttar Pradesh.
"The frequency of calls between Raj and Sonam is very high. The SIT team and Madhya Pradesh police have identified the driver of the Ertiga. She was to be taken to Ballia and another taxi was arranged from Ballia but the person from Ballia did not want to take her because she did not have any documents so she called this taxi driver," SP Vivek Syiem said.
"The taxi driver's name is Pramod Saha alias Piyush who came to pick her up again. From Ballia, she had reached Ghazipur," SP Vivek Syiem said.
SP Vivek Syiem also informed that the police will try to make the chargesheet before 90 days.
"The murder weapon is rusted, we are sending it to the central forensics for ascertaining whether any bloodstains are present on it...We will try to make the chargesheet before 90 days only," he added.
Earlier, all five accused in the Sonam Raghuvanshi case were brought out of the Civil Hospital in Shillong after a medical check-up and are being produced before a local court today for further custody proceedings.
A team of Shillong Police questioned the taxi driver who transported Sonam Raghuvanshi from Indore to Uttar Pradesh. After the questioning, the driver stated, "They had called me in connection with the vehicle, I have told them everything."
After the questioning, the driver stated, "They had called me in connection with the vehicle, I have told them everything."
The Meghalaya Police arrested five people in connection with the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, a newlywed who had come to the state on his honeymoon. Those arrested include his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and four others: Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, Raj Singh Kushwaha, and Anand. Raja Raghuvanshi's body was found in a gorge near Sohra (Cherrapunji) on June 2. Sonam was later found near a roadside dhaba along the Varanasi-Ghazipur highway. The couple, both residents of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, had gone missing during their honeymoon trip to Meghalaya.