Shillong: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Meghalaya Police, probing the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, on Sunday recovered jewellery belonging to the victim and his wife Sonam, the prime accused, from a flat in Ratlam district in MP, police said.“Today, in a significant development, the SIT, led by SI Anthony Khongsit and SI Karan Pachua, with the assistance of officers and men from Alkapuri PS, recovered jewellery of Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi from the flat of Silome James in Ratlam. A laptop, pendrive and some incriminating papers were also seized,” East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said.The SIT had taken property dealer James to Indore and searched his flat late on Saturday night. James is accused of destroying crucial evidence in connection with the case. He, along with two other co-accused, Lokendra Singh Tomar, owner of a flat in Indore where Sonam was staying after fleeing Meghalaya, and security guard Balbir Ahirbar, alias Ballu, were sent to 6-day police custody on June 26 by a local court here.Earlier reports indicated that James had allegedly disposed of a black bag belonging to Sonam, which was believed to contain crucial evidence including cash, her jewellery, a pistol and clothes. Charred remains of a bag were previously recovered from a vacant plot based on James’s input, and a country-made pistol was also recovered from a stream in Indore. The SIT suspects that James removed the contents of the bag before burning it.“We have seen CCTV camera footage of Silome James taking out the bag from the flat where Sonam (Raghuvanshi) stayed after the murder. While the bag was found burnt, the items inside, including a pistol, were recovered later from elsewhere. It is clear that the contents were removed by the accused. We are finding out where it was placed by him,” SP (City) Herbert Kharkongor said. Herbert said preliminary interrogations revealed that greed might have led them to commit the crime. When asked why Tomar, who seems to be well-to-do, committed the crime, Herbert said, “That is what we are trying to find out. The motive is greed but we are interrogating and trying to find if there was any other angle.”
