The charred remains of a black bag, believed to be of Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is in custody for her husabnd Raja Raghuvanshi's murder, have been recovered from an abandoned plot in Madhya Pradesh's Indore.
The Meghalaya Police, who are investigating the high-profile case, were led to the site by Silome James, a property dealer who rented out a flat to another accused in Raja Raghuvanshi's murder.
According to a report by NDTV, the property dealer is now under arrest for his role in destroying potential evidence. James is accused of setting fire to the bag in the presence of a building security guard, Balla Ahirwar, who has also been detained. Both of them are facing charges related to evidence tampering.
"Meghalaya Police SIT arrested one Silome James from Bhonrasa toll-gate in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh while he was trying to flee to Bhopal around 8 pm on Saturday. He is a property dealer and had leased a building in Heera Bagh Colony in Indore where Sonam had stayed and kept the jewellery and other items she took with her after the incident," East Khasi Hills district SP Vivek Syiem told news agency PTI.
Link To Co-Accused And Hideout Flat In Indore
James had reportedly rented out an apartment to Vishal Chauhan, one of the accused in Raja Raghuvanshi's murder.
Sonam Raghuvanshi is said to have stayed in that flat between May 26 and June 8, following the alleged killing of her husband on May 23 during their honeymoon trip in Meghalaya.
After the crime, she went missing before being traced to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, from where she was taken into custody.
The burnt bag remnants have been secured and will be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for detailed analysis, NDTV reported.
The Meghalaya Police SIT had arrested the security guard from his village on Sunday, a day after James was taken into custody for concealing Sonam's bag.
The property dealer and security guard will now be produced in a court in Indore, where Meghalay Police will seek a transit remand for them to taken to Shillong for further investigation, the East Khasi Hills SP said.
The development comes a day after both prime accused Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha were sent to 13-day judicial custody by a Shillong court.