Honeymoon murder: Three arrested for destroying evidence sent on judicial remand
"Shilom James, Lokendra Singh Tomar, and Balvinder Ahirwar were produced before the court after their police custody period ended. We prayed for 14 days of judicial custody. The court granted 14 days of judicial custody for Shilom James and seven days of judicial remand for Lokendra and Balvinder. Sudeep Rana from the legal aid represented the accused," said Advocate T Chanda.
Shilom James was arrested on way to Bhopal, Lokendra was arrested from Gwalior, and Balvinder was arrested from Ashok Nagar in Madhya Pradesh last week.
All three were flown to Shillong on Thursday last. They were produced before the court and taken on police remand for six days, which ended on Wednesday.
The arrests had happened days after the alleged mastermind of the case Sonam and her partner Raj were sent to judicial custody, as investigators continued to trace those who may have helped conceal the crime. Lokendra Singh, owner of the flat in Indore where Sonam is believed to have stayed after committing her husband's murder in Shillong, Shilom James, a local property dealer who leased the entire building, and Balvinder Ahirwar, a security guard, are suspected to have been actively involved in tampering with evidence.
The police said that based on inputs received during James's interrogation, Special Investigation Team (SIT) recovered a country-made pistol, two magazines, and live .32 calibre ammunition from a stream in Indore. A burnt laptop bag—believed to have belonged to Raj—was also found. Rs 50,000 in cash, suspected to be taken from Raj's laptop bag, was seized from James's car.
Three days ago, SIT returned to Indore with James and took him to Ratlam, from where missing jewellery of Sonam and Raja was recovered from a house owned by James's father-in-law. A laptop, pen drive, and some incriminating papers were also found and seized, said police.
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