Crime Branch reveals chilling details behind Raja Raghuvanshi’s killing, with a friend-turned-accused lurking close to the victim’s grieving family
He posed as a confidant. He even stood with the grieving father during the funeral. All the while, Raj Kushwaha allegedly knew exactly how Raja Raghuvanshi died—because he helped plan it.
That’s what Madhya Pradesh’s Crime Branch officers now say after weeks of quiet surveillance, phone data tracing, and local leads from over a thousand miles away in the hills of Meghalaya.
Raja, just recently married to Sonam, was found dead earlier this month. The couple was on their honeymoon. The man who once frequented Sonam’s house as a trusted family friend now stands accused of planning Raja’s murder, allegedly with help from the bride herself.
A friendship curdled into conspiracy
Raj Kushwaha and Sonam Raghuvanshi knew each other for years. Neighbors, classmates, maybe more—police aren’t revealing everything just yet. But what they are saying paints a disturbing picture.
In the days after the wedding, Kushwaha and Sonam were allegedly in constant touch. Not casual conversations either—frequent, coded, location-sensitive, and suspicious. It was enough to get police looking harder.
One officer described their messages as “frequent enough to raise every red flag in the book.”
Apparently, the plan was hatched quickly—some say even before the honeymoon began. Raja was to be lured to Meghalaya, far from home, far from anyone who could help.
The killers followed them, while the mastermind stayed close
Police now believe Kushwaha hired three men to track and kill Raja. Those men boarded a train from Indore to Guwahati and then made their way to Meghalaya.
Kushwaha, meanwhile, stayed back. He didn’t disappear. Quite the opposite.
He was spotted several times near Sonam’s family home, especially as panic set in about the couple’s disappearance. When Raja’s body was found and brought back to Indore, Kushwaha even stood near Sonam’s father during the funeral.
“This was his alibi,” said a Crime Branch officer. “He thought if he was around, grieving, nobody would suspect a thing.”
It all began to fall apart thanks to a local guide
What tipped investigators off wasn’t just digital footprints—it was human observation.
A local trekking guide in Meghalaya, known to work with tourists, came forward. He remembered the couple. But more importantly, he remembered some “strange men” lurking nearby.
That statement kicked off a flurry of back-and-forths between Meghalaya Police and MP Crime Branch.
• The hired men were traced using train ticket bookings and mobile tower data.
• Location sharing from Sonam’s phone showed precise coordinates near where Raja’s body was later found.
• Interrogations revealed that Sonam allegedly helped coordinate the meet-point.
Police called it “crucial human input” that cracked open the case.
Sonam surrenders, Raj is arrested, and a web of lies begins to unravel
On Monday, Sonam surrendered in Uttar Pradesh. Not in Indore. Not in Meghalaya. That location, too, raised eyebrows. She’d gone to a distant relative’s house and turned herself in quietly.
Kushwaha was picked up from Indore the same day.
Their devices were seized. Chats, call logs, and even shopping history were being pulled apart by forensic teams. It’s early days still, but one officer claimed that the two were “remarkably careless in their confidence.”
Here’s how the timeline stacks up, based on the police’s initial reconstruction:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| May 10-15 | Sonam and Raja begin honeymoon in Meghalaya |
| May 16 | Hired men arrive in Guwahati |
| May 18 | Raja goes missing |
| May 20 | Kushwaha seen at Sonam’s home in Indore |
| June 2 | Raja’s body is recovered |
| June 9 | Sonam surrenders in UP, Kushwaha arrested in Indore |
One investigator noted that both suspects were so relaxed after the murder that they didn’t even bother wiping some key WhatsApp exchanges.
Family in shock, neighbors angry, questions still swirling
Sonam’s family is in pieces. Her father, Devi Singh, was reportedly unaware of any affair, let alone a conspiracy.
He’d been leaning on Kushwaha for emotional support. The same man who allegedly helped send his son-in-law to an early grave.
“He was like a son to us,” a relative was quoted saying. “Now we don’t know what to believe.”
Some neighbors have claimed that Sonam and Raj were in love before she was married off. Others say it’s gossip, the kind that grows wings after tragedy.
Still more digging left for the police
Authorities aren’t closing the case just yet. Not by a long shot.
They’re still searching for the exact spot Raja was killed, based on autopsy timing and terrain details. More questioning of the hired men is underway.
There’s also a deeper look into financial trails. One theory is that Kushwaha offered a cash reward to the three men. Another says he promised them help with government contracts in exchange for silence.
As of now, all three of the alleged hitmen are still on the run.
There are whispers of one hiding in Assam. Another possibly slipped into Nepal. Nothing confirmed.
But for investigators, the eerie calm with which this plot was carried out—right from Indore to the hills of Meghalaya—feels like something straight out of a crime novel.
