Siya Goyal Chetan Ketan Agarwal Phone Before Lohagad Fort Murder

Moments before her boyfriend, Chetan, allegedly pushed her fiance, Ketan Agarwal, off the Lohagad Fort near Pune, 20-year-old Siya Goyal took Ketan’s phone from him, police have found. Siya later handed over Ketan’s phone to one of his relatives. The cops are now probing if Siya deleted any evidence from the device when it was with her.

“Investigation has revealed that moments before Chetan pushed Ketan off the cliff after getting a signal from Siya, she had taken Ketan’s phone. We are now investigating whether Siya destroyed any evidence on the phone. Cell phones of the people involved have been sent for digital forensic analysis,” said a police officer part of the investigation.

The investigation so far has revealed that Siya and Chetan deleted their chats to destroy the evidence of the conspiracy. Police had earlier said Siya and Chetan decided on a “signal” before visiting the Fort to carry out the crime. The two had agreed that once Siya sat on the ground, Chetan, who was in a hoodie, would push Ketan into the gorge.

On the morning of June 18, Ketan and Siya reached the Lohagad Fort. Chetan was already there. He followed Siya and Ketan at a safe distance to avoid raising any suspicion. Once they reached the chosen point, Siya sat on the ground. And on her cue, Chetan allegedly came from behind and pushed Ketan off the fort.

This morning, senior police officers took Chetan (22) to the Lohagad Fort for crime scene reconstruction. Earlier, they had taken Siya to the spot.

Police are also analysing Chetan’s walk from the CCTV footage to establish that he was present at the Fort on the day of the incident. Called gait analysis, this is a scientific examination of how a person walks to identify distinctive patterns and is often used in forensic investigations to help corroborate the identity of a suspect from CCTV footage. This is most commonly done when the suspect’s face is covered, not visible, or the footage is not clear.

The murder of 26-year-old Ketan Agarwal, director of a realty firm in Pune, has made national headlines after the investigation into what was considered an accident revealed the alleged role of his fiancee, Siya, and her boyfriend Chetan.

According to the police, the families of Siya and Ketan planned their wedding in February this year. The two were engaged on February 19, and the wedding was scheduled for later this year.

Siya, police have found, was in a relationship with Chetan since October and did not want to marry Ketan. So she allegedly plotted his murder with her boyfriend, Chetan. The two decided to push Ketan off the Fort and tried to pass it off as an accident. The investigation, however, foiled their plans.

Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More