Shillong: Little did Indore native Raja Raghuvanshi know that his honeymoon trip to Meghalaya would be his last journey. He was allegedly murdered by men hired by his wife during the trip, Meghalaya DGP I Nongrang said on Monday.

The DGP said that the wife, Sonam, surrendered before the Nandganj Police Station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, while three other assailants were arrested during overnight raids. Of the three arrested men, she said two are from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and one from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"Sonam surrendered at the Nandganj police station in UP, and was subsequently arrested. One person was picked up from UP, and another two accused were apprehended from Indore by the SIT," the DGP said. Nongrang said the arrested men had revealed that the wife had hired them to kill Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi and his wife went missing while vacationing in the Sohra area in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on May 23. His body was found in a gorge on June 2, while a search for his wife was underway.

A tourist guide in Mawlakhiat, Albert Pde, had seen Raghuvanshi and his wife with three men on the day they went missing. Albert said that he had seen the couple, accompanied by three men, as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23.

Albert said he recognised the couple as he had offered his services to them on the previous day to see the famed living roots bridge in Nongriat, but they had politely refused and hired another guide. He also said that all three men accompanying the couple were speaking in Hindi, indicating that they were not locals.

Raghuvanshi's body was found in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls. A gold ring and a neck chain were found missing from his body, further leading to suspicion that he was murdered.

A day later, a bloodstained machete was found nearby, and two days later, a raincoat that was similar to the one used by the couple was found in Mawkma village, halfway between Sohrarim and the gorge where Raghuvanshi's body was found.

The families of the husband and the wife had sought a CBI investigation. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday said he has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a CBI probe into the case.

After their marriage on May 11, the couple left for Meghalaya on May 20 for their honeymoon. They arrived at Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter. On May 24, their scooter was found abandoned at a cafe along the road from Shillong to Sohra, following which the search for them began.

A special investigation team (SIT) headed by an SP and assisted by four DSPs was probing the matter. The East Khasi Hills SP said, “The first person arrested was Akash Rajput, 19 years old, from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The second was Vishal Singh Chauhan, 22 years old, from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The third was Raj Singh Khushwaha, 21 years old, also from Indore." He added that Sonam Raghuvanshi is currently in police custody. "This afternoon, we arrested Anand Kurmi, 23 years old, from Sagar district, Madhya Pradesh," the SP said.