Shillong: Two persons earlier arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence in the high-profile murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya’s Sohra have not been named in a fresh chargesheet after investigators found no material to support the allegations against them, police said on Tuesday.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem said the arrests of Balbir Ahirbar and Lokendra Singh Tomar were made on the basis of suspicion during the initial phase of the investigation.
However, a detailed probe later concluded that neither of them had any role in destroying or manipulating evidence linked to the case.
“The final investigation revealed that they had no involvement whatsoever. As a result, their names have been dropped and they do not figure in the chargesheet,” Syiem said, adding that both are currently out on bail.
Police have since filed a second chargesheet in the case, naming only one of the three individuals who were earlier arrested in connection with alleged evidence tampering.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing before the court shortly.
The case relates to the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was killed in a remote area near Wei Sawdong Falls in the Sohra region of East Khasi Hills district in May last year.
His decomposed body was recovered from a deep gorge on June 2 following an extensive search operation.
Raghuvanshi had travelled to Meghalaya with his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi shortly after their marriage for what police described as a honeymoon-cum-holiday trip.
Sonam, who is the prime accused in the case, is currently in judicial custody after a court recently rejected her bail plea.
Investigators have alleged that Sonam plotted and carried out the murder before fleeing the state.
Police sources have previously stated that the crime was driven by a combination of personal relationships and financial disputes, and that attempts were made to destroy evidence and dispose of the body to conceal the murder.
