Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A local court in Shillong on Thursday remanded three accused to six days of police remand for allegedly concealing and destroying evidence related to the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case.

The accused include Shillom James, a property dealer who had leased out the flat, Balveer Ahirwar, a security guard and Lokendra Singh Tomar, the owner of the building. James and Ahirwar were arrested from Indore, while Tomar was arrested from Gwalior. All three are charged with tampering with evidence and destroying it in connection with the flat near Dewas Naka, where Sonam Raghuvanshi reportedly stayed after the murder.

The trio was brought to Shillong under tight security and taken to the Civil Hospital for medical examination before being produced in court.

Assistant public prosecutor Tushar Chanda said, “The police had sought eight days’ remand for all three accused, but the court granted six days of custody.”

Police continue search for laptop and valuables

On Wednesday afternoon, the Meghalaya SIT recovered a country-made pistol with two magazines and two rounds of .32 ammunition from a drain behind Industry House, based on leads from accused Shillom James. Police also recovered ₹50,000 from James's car (MP09 WG 2352). However, Sonam’s laptop and Raja’s valuables, believed to be in a missing bag, remain untraced.

SIT chief Herbert Kharkongor said, “The accused may have acted out of greed, but we will continue interrogating them to find out whether other motives were involved and where the laptop was disposed of.” The Meghalaya police could also come Indore in future based on the findings in interrogation of the accused, he added.

Shillom broke down during confrontation with Tomar

All three accused were cross-questioned in each other’s presence. Initially, Shillom James misled investigators by claiming that Lokendra Singh Tomar had handed him the bag to dispose of. However, when Tomar was brought face-to-face with James in Indore, James broke down and revealed the location of the pistol.

Sonam and Raj haven’t given written statement before magistrate

SIT chief Kharkongor said, “Actually, we did not send all of them, only two (Sonam and Raj). However, they were not willing to record their statements before the magistrate (under Section 164 of the CrPC), so the matter couldn’t proceed further.”

SIT spent nine days in Indore

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Meghalaya spent nine days in Indore, from June 17 and 25, investigating various leads and searching multiple locations to recover the bag allegedly left behind by Sonam Raghuvanshi during her hideout.

During this period, the team also visited the families of Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi to gather background on Sonam’s behaviour before and after her marriage to Raja. The investigation continues to explore all possible angles in the case.