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Local guide confirms seeing couple with three tourists - The Shillong Times

SOHRA, June 6: A tourist guide from Mawlakhiat, the village from where Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi from Indore trekked to the Double Decker Root Bridge in Nongriat, said he saw the couple with a group of three men making their way back to the Mawlakhiat parking lot. Albert Pde, the tourist guide, gave this information to two journalists (one from The Shillong Times) who reached Mawlakhiat to investigate the case of the couple who went missing on May 23. Raja's decomposed body was found in a gorge on June 2. The police said he was murdered, and a machete found near the body was used for the purpose. Pde was initially reluctant to speak, but opened up after the other residents of Mawlakhiat spoke up. Incidentally, Pde said his statement was recorded by the police earlier. This was the first time he had spoken to media persons. He said he interacted with the couple in the evening of May 22 and asked them if they needed a guide. The offer was turned down. The couple arrived at Mawlakhiat, under Elaka Mynteng, on May 22, riding a two-wheeler rented from Shillong. This village is the main access point to the famed Double Decker Root Bridge in Nongriat. Bha Wansai, a guide the couple reportedly hired just to drop them from Mawlakhiat, took them to Shipara Homestay in Nongriat, where they stayed that night. Pde said he saw Sonam and Raja the next day around 10 am as he was heading to the Double Decker Root Bridge. The two were making their way up to the parking lot. Sonam trailed behind Raja, who was engaged in a friendly conversation with three "tourists" and were speaking in Hindi. Asked if he saw anything suspicious, he said, "I cannot say because they were speaking in Hindi, which I don't understand much. I would have understood if they were speaking in English. I did not speak to the couple when they were returning, as they did not require a guide." Referring to the incident, he said, "We feel bad, as we never saw such incidents of crime since childhood. We grew up as god-fearing people, and the negativity surrounding this incident is painful." The villagers have been apprehensive about a bad name since the police revealed that the murder weapon, a machete, was new and had not been used for chopping wood earlier. Meanwhile, Wansai said the couple hired his services to be dropped off at a guest house near the Living Root Bridge. "Raja, not conversant in English, did not speak much. Sonam spoke most of the time," he said, adding that the couple declined his services as they claimed to know the trail. He said he did not see the couple leave but noticed that their scooty was not in the parking lot. "We provide parking and hand over a receipt to the driver or vehicle owner. We hardly note the number plate, which we will do now," he said. Wansai said the incident affected the tourist inflow. "Meghalaya is being defamed on social media for something many of us are not aware of. It is surprising how the scooty reached Sohrarim when the body was found at Weisawdong," he said. He said the people of Sohra have been hurt by the criminal tag because of the incident involving the Indore couple. "We treat tourists like family members, welcome them with an open heart, and return their misplaced or lost valuables if found, but now, our area is being called crime-prone," he lamented. An effort to check the visitors' record at the Mawlakhiat parking lot was unsuccessful. This scribe found the logbook to be poorly maintained, with no names or vehicle numbers entered. Villagers attributed this to the large volume of tourists and vehicles, making it nearly impossible to track specific movements. Furthermore, the lack of basic infrastructure, such as a consistent power supply and proper roads, makes the idea of installing functional CCTV cameras improbable. The couple reportedly checked out of Shipara Homestay at 6 a.m. on May 23. At around 9 p.m. on the following night, the Sordar of Sohrarim village informed the police about an abandoned scooty. Officers traced its ownership via an e-challan record, leading them to the rental agency, which confirmed it had been hired by the missing couple. Raja's body was discovered on the afternoon of June 2 near the Weisawdong Falls. Sonam remains untraceable. Police confirmed that the case is now being treated as a homicide.

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