Claim
In their official arrest documents, police wrote that Sonam Raghuvanshi was suspected of being an army deserter.
“पुलिस ने अपने सरकारी दस्तावेज में लिख दिया कि सोनम रघुवंशी पर देश की सेना से भगोड़ा यानी आर्मी डेजर्टर होने का शक है।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
Court records from the Meghalaya High Court bail proceedings, as reported by ThePrint and the Assam Tribune, confirm that the police arrest/grounds-of-arrest document literally stated Sonam Raghuvanshi was suspected of being a 'deserter from the Armed Forces.' This was a template/checkbox and section-number error (BNS 403 instead of 103) that the court criticized, but the anchor's factual claim — that police wrote this in official documents — is correct.
Evidence
- https://theprint.in/judiciary/meghalaya-honeymoon-murder-case-why-hc-granted-bail-to-sonam-raghuvanshi/2973927/ ThePrint report on the Meghalaya HC bail order states: 'The police documents disclosing the ground for Sonam's arrest stated she was suspected of being a deserter from the Armed Forces,' and quotes the document language: 'You are suspected of being a deserter from any of the Armed Forces of the Union.' ✓ reachable · archived
- https://assamtribune.com/north-east/meghalaya-hc-upholds-sonams-bail-how-bns-section-mix-up-proved-crucial-1613679 Assam Tribune reports the arrest documents incorrectly referred to Sonam Raghuvanshi as a 'deserter' from the armed forces, part of the defective paperwork (BNS Section 403 vs 103) the High Court flagged as 'total non-application of mind.' ✓ reachable · archived
- https://lawbeat.in/news-updates/raja-raghuvanshi-murder-case-meghalaya-high-court-upholds-sonam-raghuvanshis-bail-1607153 LawBeat coverage of the HC upholding Sonam's bail, referencing the arrest-memo defects central to the ruling. ✓ reachable · archived