A court in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district has framed charges against five accused in the murder case of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was hacked to death in May allegedly by three hitmen in the state, where the Madhya Pradesh businessman came with his wife for their honeymoon. The five accused are Raghuvanshi’s wife Sonam, her boyfriend Raj Kushwaha and the three hitmen – Vishal Chauhan, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi – who had come from Madhya Pradesh to kill the businessman. All of them denied the allegations against them.
On Tuesday, the court formally framed charges under Sections 103(1) (murder), 238 (a) (disappearance of evidence) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. All five accused were arrested within a week of the incident. On September 5, the police submitted a 790-page chargesheet before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Sohra Sub-Division.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the court observed that there was prima facie sufficient evidence to proceed with the trial. Meanwhile, police said preparations are underway to file a second chargesheet against three more individuals — Silom James, Lokendra Tomar, and Balbir Ahirbar — accused of destroying evidence related to the crime. The trial in the gruesome case is expected to begin soon.