How Siya Goyal’s plan to kill fiancé at Pune’s Lohagad Fort was uncovered: Missing passport and a hoodie

The death of Ketan Agarwal on June 18 was believed to be a trekking accident at Lohagad Fort in Maharashtra’s Pune. However, it has now turned into a murder case with the police claiming that the 25-year-old did not accidentally fall into a nearly 400-foot-deep gorge, but was instead pushed to his death by his fiancée and her alleged lover.

On Tuesday (June 23), the police arrested Siya Goyal and Chetan Babulal Chaudhary on the charge of killing Agarwal by pushing him off the cliff. The two have confessed to killing Agarwal, police said, and are probing if it was their fourth attempt to kill the 25-year-old.

What gave away the murder? How were the authorities able to pin down Goyal and Chaudhary? We investigate.

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Agarwal’s death during ‘trekking accident’ at Lohagad Fort

Twenty-six-year-old Agarwal was the son of a prominent Maharashtra construction businessman, Vishal Agarwal, from Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune. In February, he was engaged to Siya Goyal, and the two were set to tie the knot in Udaipur in November.

The couple’s family had planned a lavish wedding in Jaipur — they booked a luxury palace for Rs 17 crore and scheduled two private aircraft to fly wedding guests.

However, Goyal didn’t want to marry Agarwal and hatched a plan to kill him with the help of her lover, Chetan Chaudhary, the police claim.

As part of her plan, she took Agarwal to Lohagad Fort on June 18 to celebrate her birthday, and by 10.30 am, Siya told authorities that Agarwal had slipped while taking photographs and fallen into a deep valley. His body was recovered after a three-hour operation.

Post the incident, Goyal even posted an Instagram story, expressing her grief. “You left me on my birthday. You left when we were so close to getting married. I still can't understand why you did this to me. I had dreams, questions I'll never get answers to. Why did you leave me when I loved you so much? Rest in peace,” the post read.

Agarwal family raises doubts over accident

Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Sandeep Singh Gill, notes that at first they took Goyal’s version of the account at face value and filed a case of accidental death. However, it was the Agarwal family that began to raise doubts about the accident.

Agarwal’s family questioned the theory of his falling into the gorge, stating that he was an experienced trekker and familiar with the terrain. Relatives told the police that the circumstances surrounding the fall appeared suspicious.

SP Gill also noted that there were inconsistencies in her statement, which prompted them to probe deeper. He added that subsequent investigations led them to believe that Agarwal’s fall wasn’t accidental.

Moreover, they realised that the choice of Lohagad Fort wasn’t random, either. According to police, Goyal had taken Agarwal on two occasions before June 18, making the fatal visit their third trip together. “One of the visits was on May 31 and another on June 14. She had also called him to come to visit the fort with her on June 4, but Agarwal did not go. On June 18, Chaudhary reached the fort premises before the couple arrived. After Goyal and Agarwal climbed the fort, Chaudhary followed them,” an officer said.

Accused Siya Goyal being escorted by the police in Vadgaon, Pune in the Ketan Agarwal murder case. PTI

A suspect in a hoodie

Another clue that helped the police crack the case was the presence of a young man in the CCTV footage.

Officials found the presence of the man particularly suspicious, especially the fact that he was wearing a hoodie despite the hot weather on that day. On further investigation, they found the same man in the vicinity of the accident, reported News18 Marathi. This helped establish a possible link between the man and Goyal, leading investigators to intensify questioning.

It was later uncovered that the man in the hoodie was Chaudhary. According to SP Sandeep Singh Gill, Goyal, and Chaudhary pushed Ketan Agarwal from Lohagad Fort, causing his death.

“We found that Chaudhary kept his phone at home to avoid being tracked. He carried the phone of a staffer and was in contact with Goyal on WhatsApp. This shows premeditated attempts to mislead the probe and a well-planned murder conspiracy,” an investigator told the Indian Express.

Police later detained Goyal and Chaudhary for questioning.

The Bali trip that never happened

Another important lead that helped the cops was a missing passport that forced the cancellation of a pre-wedding trip to Bali. According to the police, this was part of Goyal’s bigger plan to kill Agarwal.

After getting engaged, Agarwal and Goyal were set to travel to Bali on June 6 for a pre-wedding photoshoot. The trip was suddenly cancelled when Agarwal realised that his passport was missing after reaching Mumbai airport.

Vishal Agarwal, the victim’s father, was quoted as telling India Today that the circumstances seemed suspicious. “They were supposed to go from Mumbai to Bali, Indonesia, on June 6 for a pre-wedding shoot. While leaving home, only four people were in the car. Everyone checked their passports while sitting in the car, and all the passports, currency, credit cards, driving licences, etc, were kept in a single pouch. That pouch was in the car itself,” he said, adding, “After arriving at the airport, everyone had their passports except Ketan. Only Ketan’s passport got stolen. Because of that, he couldn’t go and had to return from the airport.”

Investigations reveal that Goyal took Agarwal’s passport, tore it up, and threw it out.

Disbelief within Agarwal family

The Agarwal family is unable to grasp the death of their loved one. They also question why Goyal took such drastic steps to end the wedding.

Vishal Agarwal told the Indian Express, “We never imagined something like this could happen. We had known Siya’s family for nearly 35 to 40 years and had complete faith in them. Losing a 26-year-old son in such circumstances is devastating. There are no words to describe what we are going through.”

The victim’s mother Rakhi, also expressed how she felt betrayed by Goyal. “We treated Siya like our family. She visited our home several times and was accepted as daughter-in-law by everyone in our joint family. We never doubted her intentions. We want strict action against all those responsible for my son’s death,” she said.

With inputs from agencies