Regret if Raja Raghuvanshi murder case hit Meghalaya's image: Indore mayor

Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on Wednesday said if local people's strong reactions over the murder of city businessman Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya has affected the north-eastern state's image or its tourism, then he expresses regret over it.

The mayor of Madhya Pradesh's second-largest city also said Raghuvanshi's murder was "unfortunate" and asserted that tourists are safe in the north-east.

According to Meghalaya Police, Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi's wife Sonam (25) was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to murder him with her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha (20). The duo had hired three killers to execute the plan.

Raja Raghuvanshi (29) and Sonam were married in Indore on 11 May. They went missing during their honeymoon in Meghalaya on 23 May. Raghuvanshi's body was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in the Sohra (also known as Cherrapunji) area of East Khasi Hills district on 2 June. Sonam and her aides were arrested from Indore and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh recently for their alleged role in conspiring and killing Raghuvanshi.

After the disappearance of the newly married couple, many people in Indore reacted sharply, questioning the investigation of the Meghalaya Police and the safety of tourists in the north-eastern state.

Referring to the reactions, mayor Bhargava told PTI, "If for any reason the image or tourism of Meghalaya or any other area of the north-east has been affected, then I express regret over it."

He said the Meghalaya Police had acted promptly and solved the murder case within a few days, for which he was grateful to them. "I myself have lived in the north-east for some time and believe tourism is safe there. We all should take care that tourism in Meghalaya is not affected in any way," he said.

Raja Raghuvanshi's murder is unfortunate and it should not be linked to any particular place, the mayor said. "This incident is a matter of introspection for us. We will communicate with local people through various programmes so that they avoid blindly following Western culture and such incidents do not occur in future."

He, however, did not specify how 'following Western culture' could have caused the murder plot to unfold, or whether it was common for newlywed wives to allegedly have their husbands murdered in 'Western culture'.

With PTI inputs