Meghalaya murder: Dead Indore tourist's family urges PM to order CBI probe

Raja Raghuvanshi had gone missing along with his wife, Sonam, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.

The family of Raja Raghuvanshi, a newlywed from Madhya Pradesh's Indore whose body was found in a gorge near Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter.

Raja Raghuvanshi had gone missing along with his wife, Sonam, during their honeymoon in the northeastern state. The couple were last seen on May 23. Later on June 2, Raja's body was found in a gorge at Sohrarim near Cherrapunji in Meghalaya while Sonam is still missing, and the search operation to trace her continues.

Speaking to ANI, Raja Raghuvanshi' brother Vipul Raghuvanshi, said, "We have written a letter to the Prime Minister requesting a CBI inquiry and submitted it at the commissioner office. We want the PM and Chief Minister both of them to extend support to us and the CBI investigation should be done into the matter. It could bring justice to Raja and make finding Sonam easier. The way the Meghalaya police is working on this case, they won't bring justice to Raja."

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed grief and called it a very unfortunate incident. He also stressed that all the necessary steps would be taken to arrest those behind the incident.

"One person has been murdered and another is missing. This is a very unfortunate incident and it is very sad. We have never seen such an incident before in Meghalaya...I extend my condolences to the family and I would like to tell the family members that it is a very important case for us. We will take all the necessary steps to probe and to arrest those behind this incident. I assure the family members that our state government and police force are working on every level to probe the matter," CM Sangma said.

The couple tied the knot last month on May 11 and left for a Shillong trip from Indore on May 20. The family had their last conversation with the couple on the afternoon of May 23 and their phone went switched off by the evening of the same day, according to the family member.