Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a fast-track court and appointed Ujjwal Nikam as special prosecutor in the shocking Lohagad Fort murder case
PUNE: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday ordered the establishment of a fast-track court in the Lohagad Fort murder case and appointed senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor, after meeting the victim’s father Vishal Agarwal in Pune.The chief minister’s office tweeted that Fadnavis accepted the family’s demands on the spot and issued directions to the secretary of the law and judiciary department. Nikam has given his consent to appear as special prosecutor in the case.“We are committed to ensuring that the guilty receive the harshest punishment. No stone will be left unturned in delivering justice to the family,” the CMO said in a statement.Fadnavis also called the case “extremely shocking” and said it compelled society to reflect on why children from educated and well-settled families develop “malicious and destructive thinking.” He urged citizens to view the case not just as a crime but through a social lens.What happenedKetan Agarwal, 25, director and chief marketing officer of real estate firm Success Group, was pushed to his death from a 350-foot gorge at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala on June 18 — the day before his fiancée Siya Goyal’s birthday. The trek had been planned ostensibly as a birthday outing.His fiancée Siya Goyal, 20, and her lover Chetan Chaudhary, 22, were arrested on June 23 and remain in police custody until June 29, booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder and criminal conspiracy.A months-long conspiracyInvestigators say the murder was not an impulsive act. Siya and Chetan had attempted to kill Ketan twice before — on May 31 and again on June 14, when he grabbed a bush to save himself and she raised a false alarm about a snake. She had also allegedly stolen and destroyed his passport at a food mall near the Khalapur toll plaza, sabotaging a pre-wedding trip to Bali.On the night before the murder, June 17, CCTV footage captured the two at a Pune cafe between 4:35 pm and 5:30 pm, where police say they finalised the plan and identified the exact spot on the fort. Chaudhary arrived at the fort separately on a two-wheeler, wearing a hoodie despite 33-degree heat, pulling it over his face to avoid identification.Police say that at a secluded cliff edge, Siya gave a pre-decided signal — sitting down — following which Chaudhary pushed an unsuspecting Ketan into the gorge. “Ketan had no idea what was coming. He was pushed before he realised anything,” a police official said.In the aftermath, Siya told Ketan’s family and locals that he had slipped while posing for a photograph. The next day — her birthday — she posted an emotional tribute to him on social media. There were no photographs from that day on her phone.How they were caughtKetan’s family refused to accept the accident theory, noting he was an experienced trekker. Call records revealed 2,004 calls and 238 hours of conversation between Siya and Chaudhary over six months. CCTV footage from the fort sealed the case.During interrogation, the two initially blamed each other. Police say Siya has since admitted to hatching the conspiracy, while Chaudhary claimed he was present at the fort but unaware of what was happening — a version police dismissed. “It was evident he was lying,” an official said.Investigators say the couple chose murder over elopement because they feared eloping would bring “disrepute to their families.”Contradictions in Siya’s accountPolice say Siya has been giving conflicting statements. She claimed she had repeatedly told Ketan she did not want to marry him, and that he refused to call off the wedding. But chats recovered from their phones, police say, show the two interacting as a typical couple with affectionate exchanges in the lead-up to the wedding.“On the basis of the chats recovered from the phones, her claims are not convincing,” an official said.Siya’s mother, Pooja Goyal, also claimed her daughter had been reluctant to go to Lohagad that day and that Ketan and his mother had persuaded her. She maintained the family had no knowledge of Chetan’s existence and that Siya had never expressed dissatisfaction about the marriage.Family demandsKetan’s mother has demanded the death penalty. His father, who met Fadnavis on Friday, has called for a fast-track trial — a demand now accepted.In a remarkable turn, Siya’s own parents have called for the harshest punishment for their daughter if she is found guilty. Her father, speaking from a hospital, said: “Whosoever has done this, even if it is my daughter, should be pushed off the same cliff.” Her mother echoed the demand: “If my daughter is found guilty, she should be thrown from the same place.”Ketan and Siya had gotten engaged in February and were set to marry in November at a resort in Udaipur.
