Meghalaya murder case: The Special Investigation Team of Manipur Police have recovered a country-made pistol from a stream in the Palasia area of Indore in connection with the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, police said on Wednesday.
“We have recovered a country-made pistol with two magazines… from a stream in Indore,” East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Earlier, the police had recovered ₹50,000 in cash from a box kept in a car in Indore, the police officer said.
Syiem said that the SIT had built a ‘watertight’ case against Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raj Kushwaha and the other accused persons.
“The recovery of the firearm and ammunition confirms our suspicion about the kind of planning that went into this murder. We are piecing together every bit of evidence as we build a watertight case,” he told reporters.
An officer of the Indore Police also told the news agency that the pistol that was found on Wednesday was suspected to have disappeared along with other items from a flat in the city. Sonam, the prime accused and Raja Raghuvanshi’s wife, is believed to have stayed for several days after fleeing from Meghalaya following the murder.
Meghalaya Police in Indore
The SIT on Wednesday found some items in the drain on the basis of information provided by one of the accused.
Officials got down the drain along with real estate businessman Shilom James, who has been arrested in the case.
An eyewitness, quoted by PTI, said that the police had found some items wrapped in a plastic bag. While police earlier did not provide any details about the findings, officers later told that the pistol was among the items that were recovered.
Earlier, on the basis of information provided by James, the investigators had recovered burnt pieces of a bag from an empty plot on June 22. Besides James, flat owner Lokendra Singh Tomar and security guard Balbir Ahirwar have been arrested on the charges of hiding or destroying important evidence.
Sources quoted by PTI said the three accused are currently in transit custody of Meghalaya Police and being questioned about these pieces of evidence. James had rented out the flat in Dewas Naka area — where Sonam allegedly hid before travelling to Uttar Pradesh and surrendering before police on June 8 — to Vishal Chauhan, one of the accused.
