A cousin of Sonam Raghuvanhi had cleared the first tranche of payment to the three hitmen who were hired to murder her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, in Meghalaya last month, police officers probing the case said on Thursday.

While five people have been arrested so far, Sonam's cousin brother Jitendra Raghuvanshi has now come under the police's scanner for his possible involvement in the crime that has sent shockwaves across the country.

According to the police, Jitendra's UPI account was used to pay the first installment of the money that was promised to hitmen Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauha and Anand Kurmi by Sonam on May 23 - the day Raja was murdered. 

Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam's families were not familiar with one another and met through a matrimonial app while seeking partners for their children, the former's cousin, Arpit, has said.

In an exclusive chat with NDTV, Arpit said Raja and Sonam's families - both from Madhya Pradesh's Indore - also met a couple of times and visited each other, before fixing the marriage at the woman's residence on February 10.

The details emerge at a time when Raja's murder by Sonam, just days after their marriage on May 11, has sent waves of shock and grief through both the families and left them distraught. READ MORE HERE

Raja Raghuvanshi, the Indore resident killed while honeymooning in Meghalaya, was told by his wife Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, investigators said on Wednesday.

Accordingly, Raja planned their trip to Guwahati and adjacent Meghalaya for the honeymoon, while his wife and her boyfriend allegedly plotted to kill him in the jungles of the northeastern state, considering its perceived remoteness, they said.

"Sonam convinced her husband Raja that they need to make offerings at the Kamakhya Devi Temple before consummating the marriage," a police officer who is a part of the investigation told PTI.

Sonam and Raja got married in Indore on May 11 and arrived in Meghalaya via Guwahati in Assam on May 20. Both of them went missing on May 23 in Sohra in East Khasi Hills district, hours after checking out of a homestay at Nongriat village.

Raja Raghuvanshi's sister, Srashti, has received massive backlash over her Instagram reels, lashing out at Sonam - her sister-in-law and the prime accused in the murder of her brother. Ever since Raja's body was found in a gorge in Meghalaya, Srashti has been posting reels raising awareness around her brother's death and calling for justice. However, this did not sit well with users as they accused her of using her family tragedy as a way to gain traction online.

Srashti has now responded to the backlash, saying that if she had stayed quiet, then the case would have been closed in two to three days - with no trace of Raja's killers.

"Whoever is saying that I'm using my brother's death to increase my followers and views, it's not like that. If I hadn't posted and it had not gone viral, maybe his killers would not have been found yet. If we had kept quiet then this case would have closed in two to three days. We have seen so many such cases - killers would not have been found," she said in a post on Instagram.

Two days before Sonam killed her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, they visited Kamakhya Temple in Assam.

Pictures of the accused in custody have been exposed on NDTV. The four accused - Raj Kushwaha, Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Singh Chauhan were seen sitting inside the police custody in Shillong.

Sonam Raghuvanshi can be seen getting out of the police vehicle, surrounded by officials.

The Meghalaya Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) has raided a lodge in Guwahati where three suspected contract killers, Vishal, Akash, and Anand, had reportedly stayed.

The trio had arrived at the lodge around 8:30 PM on May 19 and checked out the following day at 5:30 PM, according to officials.

During their stay, they had allegedly identified themselves as students.

The SIT believes this stopover may have been part of the broader conspiracy in the high-profile murder. Further investigations are underway.

In a significant development in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder investigation, five accused, including Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha, have been remanded to police custody for eight days.

#WATCH | Shillong, Meghalaya | All five accused in Raja Raghuvanshi murder case brought back to Shillong Sadar Police Station after being presented before District & Sessions Court pic.twitter.com/OXd2VzdyUZ

— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2025

Sonam Raghuvanshi, who has reportedly confessed to killing her husband Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya, has now been "boycotted" by her family. Her brother, Govind, met Raja's family and said her family wants her to be hanged if she is guilty.

Govind went to the residence of Sonam's in-laws in Indore on Wednesday and a video shows him hugging Raja Raghuvanshi's mother. The mother, Uma, is seen crying and Govind breaks out into tears too.

Sonam, 24, is accused of plotting the murder of Raja, 29, who was killed during their honeymoon in Meghalaya on May 23, just 12 days after they got married. Sonam was allegedly in love with Raj Kushwaha, a 21-year-old employee in their family business, and they had roped in three of Kushwaha's friends to carry out the murder.

#WATCH | Meghalaya | All five accused in Raja Raghuvanshi murder case brought to the District & Sessions Court, Shillong pic.twitter.com/2YBlLXEwBF

— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2025

Exactly one month after her marriage to 29-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi, Sonam Raghuvanshi, 24, has confessed to her role in his murder during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, sources have told NDTV. The confession, according to sources, was made during police interrogation.

Under Indian law, confessions made to police officers are not admissible in court. For any such statement to hold evidentiary value, it must be recorded before a magistrate.

The confession follows the arrest of Sonam and her alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, earlier this week. Kushwaha, 21, worked at Sonam's family business and is alleged to have maintained a romantic relationship with her both before and after her marriage to Raja.

#WATCH | Meghalaya | On Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, SP East Khasi Hills, Vivek Syiem says, "We've just brought the accused here. Now, a thorough investigation will start. We have adequate evidence of her involvement. Regarding the whole picture - how much was her involvement… pic.twitter.com/5bfE4yqyn2

— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2025

#WATCH | Raja Raghuvanshi murder case | Indore (MP): After Sonam's brother Govind met her, Raja Raghuvanshi's mother, Uma Raghuvanshi, says, "...Govind said that Sonam should be hanged. He is pained for Raja, not Sonam...Govind is not at fault."
She also says, "I asked Govind if… pic.twitter.com/QIktpnX3iH

— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2025

Sonam Raghuvanshi's brother said he has apologised to Raja Raghuvanshi's family. "We have broken our ties with Sonam. No apology is enough," he said.

Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, has confessed to the crime, sources said.

A special investigation team of the Meghalaya Police brought Sonam Raghuvanshi to Shillong at night, one of the five accused in the murder of her Indore-based businessman husband Raja Raghuvanshi, and would reconstruct the crime scene in Sohra, a senior officer said on Wednesday.

The four others, who were also arrested from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in connection with the murder, are expected to arrive here shortly, and they will be produced before a local court, he said.

Sonam Raghuvanshi killed her husband Raja Raghuvanshi and threw his body off a deep gorge in Meghalaya on May 23, a crime that was carried out through meticulous planning over a span of nine hours.

Sources familiar with the sequence of events leading to the grisly murder said the newlywed couple, who were on a honeymoon in the northeastern state, had checked out of a hotel - Shipara Homestay - in Nongriat at around 5.30am on May 23 and set out on a trek in Cherrapunji half-an-hour later.

Around 10am, Sonam and Raja had completed around 2,000 steps along the trek route when they met Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput and Vishal Singh Chauhan - the hitmen who were hired by the woman to carry out the crime. 

It was also around this time that all the five people were spotted together by a local guide, whose alertness eventually helped the police to crack the missing couple-turned murder case. 

5:30 AM: Raja and Sonam checked out from their hotel, Shipra Stay. The three killers who were staying a few minutes away also checked out.

6 AM: Sonam and Raja began trekking. Sonam stopped on the way and waited for their killers to arrive. Sonam talked to the killers on the pretext of asking for directions.

7 AM: Sonam and Raja stopped at a shop to have tea. The killers also stopped near them.

10 AM: Sonam and Raja had climbed almost 2,000 stairs. During this time, a local tourist guide saw them with the killers - a statement he told the police.

12 PM: Raja befriended the killers. Sonam began walking behind Raja and the killers on the pretext of being tired.

12:30 PM: Sonam called her mother-in-law, told her about the climb and mentioned she was tired.

1-1:30 PM: Sonal signalled the killers to attack her husband - with accused Vishal making the first move.

2:15 PM: Sonam posted on Raja's social media account from his phone, mentioning "sorrow in one's life". She then threw the phone into a ditch.

2:30 PM: Sonam and the killers threw Raja's body in the ditch.

Raja Raghuvanshi's body was found in a gorge in Meghalaya on June 2 and the police say his wife, Sonam, had planned the murder because she was in love with Raj Kushwaha, an employee in her family-run business. Kushwaha, it is alleged, had helped plan the murder and had involved three of his friends - Akash, Anand, and Vikash - who were promised Rs 20 lakh by Sonam. 

Kushwaha's sister Suhani has, however, stressed he is innocent. Her 21-year-old elder brother, she said, used to call 24-year-old Sonam Raghuvanshi 'didi' (elder sister) and he only spoke to her about office-related matters. 

Speaking to NDTV on Tuesday, a day after Kushwaha's arrest, Suhani said her brother never spoke to the family about Sonam.

"He would never talk to us about didi. She would call him in the morning and sometimes we would answer and she would tell us it was time for him to get to work, that there was a vehicle waiting to be loaded. He worked in her office for two years," Suhani said in Hindi.

A special investigation team of the Meghalaya Police who brought Sonam Raghuvanshi and her aides to Shillong today, will recreate the crime scene in Sohra with them, officials said on Wednesday.

The four others, who were arrested from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in connection with the murder, are expected to arrive in Shillong soon, following which they will be produced before a local court.

"The SIT team that brought Sonam arrived shortly before midnight. She was taken to a hospital here to ascertain whether she was pregnant or not. She will be produced before a court here," a senior police officer told PTI.

New details have emerged in the murder of Indore's Raja Raghuvanshi, whose decomposed body was recovered from a gorge in Meghalaya on June 2. Raja's wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and her alleged boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, are suspected to be the masterminds behind his killing, with a few others also involved. 

A trail of digital footprints, bloody clothing, CCTV footage, and key witness testimonies has unravelled the alleged conspiracy behind what investigators are now calling a contract killing, one that unfolded under the pretext of a honeymoon in one of India's most popular tourist destinations.

Sonam, other killers' mobile phone.

Clothes worn by some of the accused at the time of the crime.

The money trail given to the "contract killers" has to be investigated.

Where the accused went after the murder.

Links to the entire plan.

The murder occurred on May 23, the body was found on June 2, and the whereabouts of the wife were unknown. There was speculation that the woman, who had come with her husband for her honeymoon, may have also been attacked or kidnapped. 

Little did the police know in the hours after the murder, however, that not only was Sonam Raghuvanshi safe, she was the one who had not only allegedly plotted her husband's murder, but had watched it happen and then helped throw the body into a gorge. 

After Sonam surfaced in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, the Meghalaya Police have also been able to piece together how she escaped after the murder, shedding more light on the planning behind the crime.

Sonam Raghuvanshi, 24, married Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on May 11. She then planned a Meghalaya trip for their honeymoon and the couple reached Shillong on May 21. They then went to the Sohra area - which is also known as Cherrapunji -  in the East Khasi Hills district.

Sonam Raghuvanshi was in love with Raj Kushwaha and had warned her family of "consequences" if she was pressured to marry Raja Raghuvanshi, who was brutally murdered days after he married the woman, police sources said. 

In his statement, Raja's elder brother Vipin said Sonam had told her mother about her affair with Raj, who was an employee at the family's business, but the mother objected to the relationship.

"Vipin said Sonam had already informed her mother about her affair with Raj. She said she did not want to marry Raja. Her mother, however, objected to the relationship (with Raj) and persuaded her to marry within the society," one of the sources said. 

"Vipin alleged that Sonam agreed to compromise and marry Raja but warned of consequences. She said 'you will see what I do to that person. You all will have to bear the consequences'. No one thought she would kill Raja," the source added. 

Blood-stained shirt of one of the accused, Akash. The blood was Raja Raghuvanshi's, officials said.

Blood-stained clothes of another accused, Anand - which he was wearing at the time of his arrest.

Sonam's blood-stained raincoat.

Weapon used in the murder - a machete.

Fingerprints of the contract killers.

Electronic gadgets and mobile phones.

CCTV footages from 42 places.

Statements of the hotel owners where Sonam and the accused stayed.

Statement of the hotel owner from where Raja and Sonam took the scooty.

Statement of the shopkeeper from where the accused took the weapon.

Copies of the identity cards of all the accused found from the hotels.

Flight and train tickets.

Call records of the conversations between the accused and Sonam.

Mobile locations of all the accused and Sonam.

Statement of the accused confessing to the crime.

Many digital footprints.

A passenger slapped an accused arrested in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore on Tuesday night. The incident took place when a Meghalaya Police team was entering the airport with four accused.

When a passenger waiting with his luggage saw them walking by, he suddenly slapped one of the accused, apparently expressing his anger over the murder that has shook the nation.

As the accused were wearing masks, it could not be immediately known who among the accused was slapped.

Indore, Madhya Pradesh: At the Indore Airport, a passenger slapped one of the four accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, who were being escorted by Shillong Police and Indore Crime Branch for a flight to Shillong on transit remand pic.twitter.com/evB5ppJ2I8

— IANS (@ians_india) June 10, 2025

Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, was brought to Shillong overnight. She is in a three-day transit remand with the Meghalaya Police.

Sonam was taken to Bihar's Patna last evening via road from Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur - where she had surrendered before the police. She was then flown from Patna to Kolkata and was put on a flight to Guwahati at 9:20 pm. The murder accused was brought out of the airport by the Meghalaya police through the cargo gate and taken to the Sadar police station in Shillong.

The Meghalaya police took Sonam to the Ganesh Das hospital for her medical test and brought her back to the police station, where she spent the night.