Meghalaya tourist guide satisfied that his information helped police crack the case

A local tourist guide who alerted police about the presence of three unidentified men accompanying newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi on the day they went missing last month on Tuesday said he is satisfied that his information helped the police crack the case.

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The couple went missing on May 23 before Raja's highly decomposed body with head injuries was found on June 2 near Weisawdong falls following which the bloodstained machete and other items were also recovered.

Albert Pde, the guide at Mawlakhiat, told PTI, "I am happy that the criminals are finally behind the bars."

"We stand vindicated. Those who tried to tarnish the image of Sohra and its people as violent have now been exposed," said a visibly relieved Pde.

Pde had said he saw the couple accompanied by three male tourists as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23.

The guide said, "The four men, including Raja, were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men conversed in Hindi," admitting that he was not very conversant in the language.

Pde had initially offered his services to walk them to Nongriat on May 22, but they politely refused and hired another guide identified as Bha Wansai, who dropped them at Shipara homestay.

Police on Monday arrested Sonam, the 24-year-old woman from Indore, for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband Raja during their honeymoon in the scenic town of Sohra in Meghalaya.

Raja was killed by men allegedly hired by Sonam, who went 'missing' and surfaced in UP's Ghazipur where she surrendered at the Nandganj police station after the arrest of three assailants -- Akash Rajput (19), Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), and Raj Singh Kushwaha (21) -- in overnight raids.