Shillong, June 11: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the sensational murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, has confessed to her role in the crime during interrogation, sources told media on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Sonam admitted to orchestrating the murder when she was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) earlier in the day.

Her confession was also formally recorded in front of officials from the Meghalaya Police, confirming her direct involvement in the crime, the sources said.

Earlier in the day, five accused — Sonam Raghuvanshi, her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha, Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Singh Chauhan — were produced in a Shillong court following detailed interrogation by the SIT.

Police officials revealed that the three alleged contract killers — Akash, Anand, and Vikash — travelled from Indore to Shillong in separate phases to avoid drawing attention.

Their movement was traced through CCTV footage, train ticket bookings, and Aadhaar card photocopies, which helped authorities confirm their identities and track their route to Meghalaya.

According to investigators, the killers joined the couple on a trek on May 23, disguising themselves as fellow tourists.

Albert Pde, a local guide, informed the police that he had offered assistance to the group but was turned down.

He also noted that the group was conversing in Hindi and deliberately opted for a remote and rugged trekking trail, away from the popular tourist area of the Double Decker Living Root Bridge.

Sonam Raghuvanshi was arrested after she surrendered at the Nandganj police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district in the early hours of Monday.

Her surrender followed days of intense pressure mounted by a coordinated, multi-state police operation involving law enforcement agencies from Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.

According to the police, Sonam plotted her husband’s murder and hired contract killers to execute the plan while on their honeymoon.

The other accused were nabbed during a series of raids conducted by police teams across Madhya Pradesh.

Kolkata, June 11: The Enforcement Directorate have started tracking the sources of the documents based on which Azad Mullick, the Pakistani citizen whom ED arrested in Kolkata in April, secured an EPIC card, with which he voted twice, first in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election and then in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Sources aware of the development said that what has kept the ED investigating officials even more intrigued is how the EPIC card held by Azad did not create doubts in the minds of the review officials during the interim revision of the voters’ list between 2021 and 2024.

The officials are in touch with the offices of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, to get details of the documents furnished by Azad for getting the EPIC card.

According to information available with ED, Azad was enrolled as a voter of Dum Dum-Uttar Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, which is again one of the seven Assembly constituencies under Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency. He admitted this in the face of interrogation about his voting in 2021 and 2024.

The issue of foreign nationals becoming voters in West Bengal has become a politically sensitive issue in the state ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled next year.

On Tuesday, ECI ordered the office of the CEO, West Bengal, to probe the case of a man, who was active in the student ‘movement’ in Bangladesh last year, and features as a registered voter in the Kakdwip Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

The controversy surfaced after some whistleblowers highlighted the picture of Newton Das, a registered voter with Kakdwip Assembly constituency, featuring in the students’ movement in Bangladesh last year on social media. The whistleblowers and a cousin of Das also claimed that Das had dual citizenship in India and Bangladesh.

According to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, the new addition to the endless list of corruption under the Trinamool Congress regime is ensuring the enlistment of Bangladeshis in the state’s voters list

The case of Azad, originally a Pakistani citizen, was even more complicated. When he was arrested at the beginning of April, documents seized by the ED official then showed that he was a Bangladeshi citizen, who was residing in India after arranging Indian identity documents, including an Indian passport, by furnishing fake documents.

However, on April 29, the ED counsel informed a special court in Kolkata that in the face of interrogation, Mullick admitted that he was an original resident of Pakistan. He said he first managed to arrange a Bangladeshi citizenship for himself through the use of forged documents and subsequently, in the same manner,r arranged Indian identity documents.

Shillong, June 11: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the shocking murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, was brought to Shillong under tight security and is set to be produced in court on Wednesday.

She is currently on a three-day transit remand with the Meghalaya Police.

Raghuvanshi, who surrendered before police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on June 7, was taken to Patna by road, then flown to Kolkata and onward to Guwahati.

From Guwahati airport, she was discreetly taken out through the cargo gate and transported to the Sadar police station in Shillong, where she spent the night after a mandatory medical examination at Ganesh Das Hospital.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, stated that the Meghalaya Police obtained six days of transit remand for the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh and three days for those arrested in Uttar Pradesh.

“All accused are being brought to Shillong separately and will be produced in court,” he added.

Four other accused — Raj Kushwaha, Sonam’s alleged lover and the mastermind, along with Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Singh Chauhan — have also been brought to the Meghalaya capital. They will remain in custody until their court appearance.

An incident of public outrage unfolded at Indore airport as the four accused were being escorted by police.

A passenger, visibly angry over the brutal crime, slapped one of the masked accused.

The identity of the accused who was attacked remains unknown.

Sonam and Raja had tied the knot on May 11. Just nine days later, on May 20, they departed for their honeymoon in Meghalaya with a one-way ticket. By May 23, the newlyweds had gone missing.

A search operation ensued, and on June 4, Raja’s body was discovered in a deep gorge, sending shockwaves across the country.

Following days of investigation, Sonam was apprehended, marking a major breakthrough in what the police have termed ‘Operation Honeymoon’ — a 20-member special operation launched to hunt down the suspects involved in the grisly killing.

All five accused will now face further investigation under the jurisdiction of the Meghalaya Police.