New information has surfaced in the case of the missing Indore couple, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, who went missing in Shillong on May 23. According to a local guide, the couple was last seen with three other men on the day they disappeared. Albert Pad, a guide from Mawlyngkhung, told police that he saw the couple climbing over 3,000 steps at Mawlyngkhung with three young men around 10 a.m. on May 23. He said he recognised the couple because he had offered them his services the day before in Nongriat, which they had politely declined. Pad said the group was walking with the four men ahead and the woman behind. They were speaking in Hindi, though he could not understand the conversation as he only knows Khasi and English. He added that the group had stayed at Shipara Homestay and left the next morning without a guide.
He noted that when he later reached Mawlyngkhung, their rented scooter was no longer there. The same scooter was later found abandoned far from the Mawlyngkhung parking area at Sohrarim. The scooter had its key intact.
Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge on June 2, while Sonam remains missing. Police continue to search for her.
CCTV Footage Reveals Last Known Movements
Police have also retrieved CCTV footage from May 23 that shows Raja and Sonam arriving at a homestay in Shillong. In the four-and-a-half-minute video, the couple is seen arriving on a scooter with their luggage. Sonam is carrying a white bag and stands near the scooter while Raja parks it and enters the homestay. Sonam places her phone on the scooter seat. Raja returns after making inquiries at the reception. A red car is visible in the background of the footage. Raja opens a bag on the footpath, from which Sonam removes a red and black jacket and a pair of pants.
The couple then enters the homestay. Sonam briefly returns outside to place a purse in the scooter’s storage compartment and sits alone. Moments later, they take another bag from the front of the scooter and head inside again. After that, Sonam once again steps outside, appears to check her phone and walks a few steps away before returning to sit on the scooter. Eventually, the couple leaves the location together.