A tourist guide claimed on Sunday that the honeymoon couple from Indore, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, were accompanied by three men on the day they went missing from Meghalaya’s Sohra area. According to news agency PTI, an official confirmed that the guide had provided the information to the police.
The couple went missing on May 23, and the body of Raja was found in a gorge on June 2 while a search for his wife was underway. Speaking to news agency PTI, Albert Pde, a guide at Mawlakhiat, said he had seen the couple accompanied by three male tourists as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23. He also said that he recognised the couple, as he had offered his services to them on the previous day to climb down to the Nongriat, but they had politely refused and hired another guide.
“The four men were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men were conversing in Hindi but I could not understand what they were speaking as I know only Khasi and English,” Pde said.
The guide also said that he had offered his services to take them to Nongriat on May 22, but they had hired another guide, named Bha Wansai, and spent the night at Shipara homestay and returned the next day without a guide.
“By the time I reached Mawlakhiat, their scooter was not there,” the guide claimed.
He also gave his statement to the police.
The newlyweds’ rented scooter was found at Sohrarim, several kilometres from the parking lot at Mawlakhiat, with the keys latched to it.
Meanwhile, even as Sonam is yet to be traced, his brother Govind, who is camping in Shillong, accused the state government of not doing enough and searching for her “like she is dead”.
“We strongly believe Sonam is alive. They are searching for her like she is dead,” Govind said, urging authorities to take help from the CBI or any other agencies.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has assured that the government was leaving “no stone unturned” to find the missing woman.
(With inputs from PTI.)
