Raghuvanshi murder trial to begin in Shillong court today

Shillong: The trial into the murder case of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi is scheduled to begin in the district and sessions court here on Tuesday.The court had framed charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing disappearance of evidence under provisions of the BNS, 2023, on Oct 28 against the accused, including Raja’s wife Sonam, her alleged paramour Raj Kushwaha, and three alleged hired killers from Madhya Pradesh — Vishal Singh Chauhan, Akash Rajput, and Anand Kurmi.All the five prime accused are currently in judicial custody here while three other co-accused — property dealer Silome James, Lokendra Tomar, the owner of the building where Sonam was hiding after Raja’s murder, and security guard Balbir Ahirbar — are on conditional bail.Raja, who was on honeymoon with Sonam at Sohra, was allegedly killed at the behest of his wife on May 23.The SIT, constituted by the Meghalaya Police to probe into the murder, had retrieved the body of Raghuvanshi from a deep gorge near Wei Sawdong Waterfall at Sohra on June 2.The SIT had filed a 790-page chargesheet against all the accused in the court of judicial magistrate (first class), Sohra sub-division on Sept 5.