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A tourist guide has claimed that the couple from Indore, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, were accompanied by three men on the day they went missing from Meghalaya's Sohra area, PTI news agency reported on Friday.
An official has also confirmed to the news agency that the guide had provided this information to the police.
The newlywed couple – Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam – were on their honeymoon in the East Khasi Hills area when they disappeared on May 23.
While the body of Raja Raghuvanshi was found earlier this week, his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, is still missing. A team of multiple agencies is engaged in the search for the missing woman.
Speaking to PTI, Albert Pde, a guide at Mawlakhiat, said he had seen the couple accompanied by three male tourists as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23.
He added that he recognised the couple as he had offered his services to them on the previous day to climb down to Nongriat but they had politely refused and hired another guide.
"The four men were walking ahead while the woman was behind. The four men were conversing in Hindi but I could not understand what they were speaking as I know only Khasi and English," Pde said.
"By the time I reached Mawlakhiat, their scooter was not there," the guide claimed.
‘State govt not doing enough’
Meanwhile, Sonam's brother, Govind, who is camping in Shillong, has accused the state government of not doing enough and searching for her "like she is dead".
"We strongly believe Sonam is alive. They are searching for her like she is dead," Govind said, urging authorities to take help from the CBI or any other agencies, according to PTI.
His allegation came even as Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma assured that the government was leaving "no stone unturned" to find the missing woman.
However, the terrain, extremely heavy rainfall, and foggy weather conditions, which reduced visibility to only a few feet, affected the search operation.
"We are trying our best... our boys are doing what they can without rest using gadgets and trained dogs. The search will continue," East Khasi Hills district Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem said, according to PTI.
