120 Cops, 20 Core Members: Meghalaya Police's Operation Honeymoon To Track Sonam

The Meghalaya Police formed teams of 120 personnel to track down Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly murdered her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon last month, sources told NDTV on Tuesday.

Codenamed 'Operation Honeymoon', the ops included 20 core members to trace 24-year-old Sonam, who surrendered before the police in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on Monday, 16 days after she went "missing" along with her husband in a village in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills.

Sources said the police came to know on June 3 that Sonam was involved in the murder, a day after her 29-year-old husband's highly decomposed body with head injuries was found in a gorge some 20 kilometres from the Nongriat village, from where the couple had gone missing on May 23.

The police checked the profiles of the other three accused, including Sonam's boyfriend, Raj Singh Kushwaha, who were also arrested on Monday for their alleged involvement in the murder case.

The three accused - Raj, Akash Rajput and Vishal Singh Chauhan - were seen with Sonam before the crime took place.

All the accused had come to Guwahati on May 21, a day after the couple arrived in Meghalaya. They then bought a weapon in Guwahati to kill Raja and arrived in Shillong the next day. The crime then allegedly took place on May 23, sources said.

The police got suspicious when they found out that the couple had not uploaded any pictures of themselves in Meghalaya.

Sonam, however, posted from Raja's account after the murder, which is when the needle of suspicion pointed towards her.

"Saat janmon ka saath hai (Together for seven lives)," her post reportedly read.

Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam Raghuvanshi got married on May 11 and left for their honeymoon in Meghalaya on May 20.

They then reached Mawlakhiat, a village in the East Khasi Hills district, on May 22 on a rented scooter. The couple then reportedly trekked 3,000 steps down the gorge to visit the famous living rootbridges at Nongriat village.

On May 24, their scooter was found outside a cafe along the Shillong-Sohra road, following which a massive search for them was launched.

The murder probe was launched after Raja's body was found on June 2. Sonam then surrendered on Monday.