Sohra, June 4: Raja Raghuvanshi, a 29-year-old resident of Indore whose decomposed body was found in a deep gorge near Weisawdong Falls in Meghalaya's Sohra (Cherrapunjee), was murdered using a dao (machete), police have confirmed.

The discovery follows the couple's mysterious disappearance on May 23 while visiting the scenic location.

His wife, 27-year-old Sonam Raghuvanshi, is still missing as search operations intensify.

Teams from the NDRF, SDRF, and Special Operations Team (SOT) are engaged in a massive search to trace Sonam, while investigators have already recovered Raja's mobile phone and the suspected murder weapon -- a dao machete -- from the lower levels of the gorge.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem told IANS, "The search has continued in Weisawdong Falls, and NDRF is also involved. The gorge is in three layers, and the NDRF, SDRF and SOT have gone down to the last layer. They have recovered the victim's phone and the weapon used in the crime. The dao and a knife have been seized."

A case of murder and destruction of evidence has been registered, and the investigation has been assigned top priority.

"We are treating this as a special report case, and it is of topmost priority. A Special Investigation Team led by the SP City has been formed. It includes DSP Crime, DSP City and Operations, SDPO Sohra, and two sub-inspectors -- one Investigating Officer and one Assistant," SP Syiem added.

Raja's body was recovered on Monday after a police drone spotted it in the deep gorge below the Weisawdong Parking Lot at Riat Arliang.

The retrieval was done in the presence of independent local witnesses. Family members identified the body based on a tattoo on his right arm that read 'Raja.'

From the recovery site, police found a woman's white shirt, a strip of Pentra 40 medication, a part of an LCD screen from a Vivo phone, and a smartwatch that was still strapped to Raja's wrist.

The body has been sent to NEIGRIHMS in Shillong for a post-mortem examination to ascertain whether Raja died before or after being pushed into the gorge.

(IANS)

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