A bloodstained machete believed to have been used in the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, a man from Madhya Pradesh who went missing along with his wife during their honeymoon, has been recovered by police in Meghalaya, PTI reported, citing officials.

A raincoat suspected to belong to the couple was also found in Mawkma village, located a few kilometres from the gorge where Raja’s body was found on Monday.

“We have recovered a bloodstained weapon, a relatively unused machete (dao), during the search of the area yesterday. The search and rescue teams have also recovered a raincoat from Mawkma today,” SP of East Khasi Hills Vivek Syiem told PTI.

Mawkma lies between the spot where Raja’s decomposed body was found and Sohrarim, where the couple’s rented scooter was discovered abandoned. 

The search for his wife, Sonam, is ongoing, with the NDRF leading the operation, officials said. Police believe a raincoat recovered from the area may yield vital clues. Drones, sniffer dogs, and mountaineers are being deployed to aid the search.

Couple trekked 3,000 steps

According to police, the couple arrived in Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter and trekked over 3,000 steps down a gorge to visit the famed living root bridges in Nongriat village, where they stayed the night.

The couple left their homestay the following morning. On May 24, their rented scooter was found abandoned outside a café along the road connecting Shillong to Sohra.

“Raja’s family identified the body with the help of a distinctive tattoo on his right hand, reading ‘Raja and a lady’. A white shirt, a strip of tablets, part of a smartphone’s screen, and a smartwatch were seized at the spot,” said the Superintendent of Police (SP).

Raja’s brother, V Raguvanshi, told PTI, “Since my brother’s gold rings, a gold chain and his wallet are missing, we suspect it is a murder. We urge the authorities to let the CBI conduct an inquiry into this.”

The post-mortem examination was being conducted at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences near Shillong.

SP Syiem said a murder case had been registered and was being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an SP-rank officer and supported by four officers of deputy superintendent rank.

Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji, has been witnessing heavy rainfall, which has hampered the search and rescue operations. Between May 29 and 31, the area recorded 500 mm of rain—equivalent to the annual rainfall of Mysore, according to a weather department official.

Earlier this year, Hungarian tourist Puskas Zsolt went missing shortly after he began trekking to the living root bridges. His body was found 12 days later, with medical reports confirming he died due to a fall.

With PTI inputs