PUNE: The accidental fall of 25-year-old real estate firm director Ketan Agrawal from Lohagad Fort near Lonavla on June 18 has turned into a murder case, with Pune Rural police arresting his fiancée and her partner.Investigations revealed that the duo allegedly pushed Ketan Agrawal off the fort as the woman was unwilling to marry him.“We have arrested Siya Goyal, 20, of Marketyard and her partner Chetan Chaudhary, 22, of Kondhwa under sections 103 (murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),” said Sandeep Singh Gill, superintendent of police (Pune Rural).Gill said that Ketan Agrawal and Siya Goyal got engaged in February this year and were scheduled to marry soon.“Both families had planned to celebrate Siya’s birthday, which was on June 19. But she did not want to celebrate her birthday with him and his family. She just wanted to get rid of him. A day before her birthday, on June 18, she planned a trek to Lohagad Fort with Ketan and executed her plot with her partner Chetan,” Gill said.On her birthday, a day after murdering her fiancé, Siya even posted an emotional message and a video featuring Agrawal on a social media platform, successfully drawing sympathy from relatives and friends, an officer from Pune Rural police said.
How police unravelled the murder plot
Ketan Agrawal, a resident of Gahunje, was from a prominent business family. He completed his studies abroad and joined the family’s real estate business as one of the directors.On June 18, Ketan and Siya went trekking to Lohagad Fort, from where he fell into a 350ft-deep gorge. Siya alerted his and her family members and locals on the fort. She told them that Ketan fell down while posing for a photograph.The security personnel on the fort, Shivdurga Mitra Lonavla team and Lonavla Rural police traced Ketan’s body and sent it for post-mortem.Initially, everyone treated it as an accident. A case of accidental death was registered at the Lonavla Rural police station.Gill said the police had already started investigating whether the incident was a fallout of a property dispute or any other reason. Agrawal’s family members told the police that Ketan was a skilled trekker and suspected foul play.“Investigations also revealed that Ketan’s fiancée was in a relationship with someone else. We checked the suspects’ call records and locations and took Siya and her partner Chaudhary into custody for questioning. During sustained questioning, the duo admitted to killing Ketan by pushing him from a cliff on the fort,” Gill said.The officer said that on June 18, Siya forced Ketan to go trekking with her at Lohagad Fort. They left Gahunje around 8. 30am and reached the foothills within an hour. Her partner Chetan Chaudhary was already waiting for them there.“He followed them until they reached the cliff. Once they reached the cliff, Siya and Chetan pushed Ketan down,” the officer said.Gill said the police checked the footage on the fort and found one person who had covered his face with a hoodie while climbing it. The police became suspicious as the person was wearing the hoodie in the scorching heat.“That person was Chaudhary. He was captured on CCTV cameras at a few more spots,” Gill said.
