Indore couple case: Police recovered raincoat during search ops in Sohra

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 5, 2025

The state police on Wednesday recovered a raincoat during the ongoing search operation to rescue Sonam, who is wife of deceased Raja Raghuvanshi, whose body was found recently from a deep gorge at Weisawdong falls.

The couple were on a honeymoon when they were reported missing on May 23.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem said that a raincoat had been recovered from an area which is 5 meters away from Mawkma road in Sohra. He however said it is too early to determine whether it is linked to the missing woman, Sonam Raghuvanshi.

“We recovered a wet raincoat. There are certain stains on it, but we cannot confirm if those are blood stains—only forensic tests will determine that,” Syiem said.

On Tuesday, police recovered a ‘dao’ used for murdering of Raja Raghuvanshi. 

“We have a recovered a dao. It’s a new dao and it was just used for this purpose only,” Syiem had told reporters. 

Stating it is a clear ‘case of homicide’, he had said, “The person (Raja) has been murdered, there is no question about it and we have registered a case also for murder and for destruction of evidence. There is no doubt it was a murder. We have find out what is the motive behind it.” 

The district police chief said the case is being taken as top most priority and a special investigation team (SIT) headed by SP (City) Herbert Kharkongor is on the job to investigage the case.

Kharkongor will be assisted by four deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) – DSP (crime), DSP (city), DSP (operations) and SDPO Sohra – besides two sub-inspectors. 

The search operation carried out by teams from the NDRF, SDRF, and Special Operations Team are focused on the lowest of the gorge’s three tiers.

The couple from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, who arrived in Nongriat on May 22, were last seen on May 23 after checking out of Shipara Homestay with a local guide. Their scooty, later found abandoned at Sohrarim on May 24, triggered the intensive search.

Family of the couple have demanded for CBI probe into the case.