Shillong, June 4 Hectic search for the missing Madhya Pradesh woman continued for the 12th day on Wednesday, even as the body of the woman’s husband was recovered on May 2.
The couple went missing on May 23 while visiting Meghalaya’s Sohra-Cherrapunji areas.
A police official on Wednesday said that the search team, which included National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), have recovered a raincoat from Mawkma village, and it has some stains on it.
“Forensic reports would reveal about the raincoat and the stains. Due to heavy rains, the search operations were disrupted on Wednesday,” the official said.
He said that Sohra-Cherrapunji, a tourist hotspot in the northeast region, has been receiving heavy rain since last week, affecting the search operations.
The search teams are using drones, sniffer dogs, mountaineers and local people in the search operation. The postmortem of Raja Raghuvanshi was done on Tuesday, but the Meghalaya Police have yet to receive the report.
The official said that since the couple -- Raja Raghuvanshi (29) and his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi (27) from Indore (Madhya Pradesh) -- went missing on May 23, the search team recovered the body of Raja on May 2, after a police drone spotted the dead body in the deep gorge below the Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang in the Sohra-Cherrapunji areas under East Khasi Hills district.
Till Tuesday, the search team had recovered a bloodstained machete, which was suspected to have been used in the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi.
Demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident, Raja’s brother, Govind Raguvanshi, told the media that since his slain brother’s gold rings, a gold chain, and a wallet are missing, they suspect it is a clear case of murder.
“We urge the authorities to hand over the case to the CBI to conduct an inquiry into this case,” he said.
Meanwhile, an undated and unverified audio clip of a telephone conversation between Sonam and her mother-in-law has gone viral on social media.
The Meghalaya Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Superintendent of Police-level officer and assisted by four Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officers.
According to a police official, the newlywed couple, residents of Indore, who were touring Meghalaya, went missing on May 23 from the Sohra-Cherrapunji area. They reportedly arrived from Indore in the mountainous state on May 20 for their honeymoon and visited some areas before going to Sohra-Cherrapunji.
The couple hired a two-wheeler and visited the picturesque area before their disappearance, the official said. The couple’s mobile phones have been switched off since May 24 night.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last week spoke to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and inquired about the progress of the search operation.
Sangma had said, “We treat the tourists as our family members. People of the Sohra-Cherrapunji areas also treated the tourists as their family members. A large number of villagers are now involved in the search operation.”
"I am personally monitoring the search and rescue efforts constantly,” the Chief Minister had said.
Madhya Pradesh MPs Shankar Lalwani and Sumer Singh Solanki also came to Meghalaya and held meetings with the Director General of Police, Nongrang, and Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang to discuss the search operations.
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