Siya Goyal took Rs 1 crore from Ketan Agarwal: What the latest probe in Lohagad murder revealed

The Lohagad Fort, Pune, Maharashtra, is at the centre of a modern-day murder investigation of a wealthy Pune businessman, Ketan Agarwal.

The murky murder plot of the 26-year-old realtor has entered a crucial phase, with investigators uncovering fresh details, including Ketan’s fiancée, Siya Goyal and her lover, Chetan Chouadhary’s Udaipur trip, secret calls, digital trails of deleted chats, and how Goyal extorted crores from Ketan under the pretext of wedding shopping.

The probe has revealed that Goyal never wanted to marry Ketan and that she faked smiles in videos and photographs of the couple now circulating on social media. The 22-year-old told investigators she had no intention of going ahead with the marriage. Chaudhary, the lover, is the co-accused in the case.

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The Pune builder died on June 18 after being thrown from a cliff at Lohagad Fort by his would-be wife's lover while Goyal stood as a spectator. Initially, Goyal cooked up the story of an accident; however, her behaviour tipped off the victim’s sister and family, prompting a deeper probe.

We take a look.

Udaipur trip with lover, but 1 crore from Ketan

Weeks before the February engagement with Ketan, Goyal and Chaudhary travelled to Udaipur with a group, the probe reveals. According to officials probing the matter, the duo spent days together during the trip.

Police are now analysing the Udaipur angle that could assist in decoding the sinister sequence of the event leading up to Ketan's death. Investigators are studying travel details, the complete timeline of their relationship, travel records, digital evidence and all forensic material collected so far during the probe.

The probe also revealed that as part of the conspiracy, Goyal reportedly obtained Rs 1 crore from Ketan under the pretext of shopping meant for the wedding, which she then handed to Chaudhary. Her alleged lover wanted the money to establish his business and career.

Chaudhary's blueprint was to become financially stable within the next three years and then approach Goyal's family to seek their permission to marry her. Goyal's lover assured her after receiving the money.

Investigators alleged that Goyal believed Ketan's death would give her at least three years before she would reconsider marriage. The probe unearthed that both the victim's fiancée and her lover feared that calling off the wedding would bring them social disrepute.

On Friday (June 26), Goyal, during custodial interrogation, told Pune Rural Police that she disliked Ketan as he wore a "wig patch." The deceased's father, Vishal Agarwal, confirmed that his son had used a small hair patch, and the Goyal family, including Siya, was informed of this before the engagement.

Goyal, since the beginning, wanted to marry Chetan, but her family fixed Ketan, according to reports.

Siya's 'secret' last call with lover

Officials have also uncovered what they believe is another crucial piece of digital evidence, including phone calls made by key accused Goyal to her co-accused, Chaudhary, just 34 minutes before Ketan was killed, NDTV reported citing sources.

Goyal's call, now identified through her Call Detail Records (CDR), is now being viewed as investigators' final go-ahead in the sickening murder plot to eliminate Ketan, the report noted.

The report, quoting sources, said forensic examination of the two accused's mobile phones helped police trace the call, which is now being examined as a key element of the alleged conspiracy.

According to cops, Goyal made the 'secret' call to Chaudhary to share her exact location at a viewpoint on the fort, confirming to him that there were no tourists nearby. All was done to ensure that the spot chosen to execute the plan was suitable.

ANI reported, quoting the Pune Rural Police, that officials discovered Goyal had given Chaudhary a predetermined visual signal just minutes before the incident.

Among the chilling details was that Goyal sat down on the ground, showing that she was drinking water, while Chaudhary came from behind and pushed Ketan off the cliff, according to police.

Investigators believe that Goyal remained out of Ketan's reach, so he would not grab her in an attempt to save his life, as he did on June 14, when Goyal pushed him and then faked a snake story claiming her innocence.

“In the ongoing probe, it has come to light that the crime was allegedly planned by accused Siya Goyal and her friend Chetan Chaudhary," a Pune Rural Police official told ANI.

The accused finalised the plot during a cafe in Pune’s Lullanagar area a day before the incident, police alleged. Officials have recovered the CCTV footage to support the claim.

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Police have alleged that both Goyal and Chaudhary rehearsed the crime before carrying out and are working to identify the locations where those rehearsals took place, ANI reported.

Digital trail of deleted chats under scanner

Officials probing the case suspect the accused deleted WhatsApp chats, Instagram messages and voice notes exchanged over nearly three months in an alleged attempt to destroy evidence linked to the alleged murder plot.

The police cyber wing is working with forensic experts to retrieve the deleted data.

Investigators are also cross-verifying the recovered conversations with location records and internet IP logs from around the time of the final phone call.

Meanwhile, investigators have reconstructed an alleged timeline of the events on the day of the incident.

On the day of the crime, Chaudhary remained offline from 7 am to avoid creating a digital location trail. He used his staff member's phone and left his personal phone at his workplace.

His appearance in a hoodie while following Goyal and Ketan caught police attention, leading to a major clue in identifying Chaudhary. While executing the murder plot, he remained offline for nearly 10 hours before reconnecting to the internet in the evening.

Police reportedly considered this prolonged digital silence suspicious while analysing his movements.

Blame game at the crime scene

On Sunday morning (June 28), Pune Rural Police recreated the crime scene at Lohagad Fort. Goyal was taken to the spot during the reconstruction, where the duo are accused of pushing Ketan.

She was asked to retrace their movements from the moment they arrived at the fort, reconstruct the route they followed, identify the exact location where Ketan was allegedly pushed, and recount the sequence of events leading up to and after the incident.

During that interrogation, Goyal and Chaudhary allegedly attempted to pass the blame onto each other. While the lover claimed he wanted to run away with Goyal and that the murder plot was her idea.

However, Goyal maintained that the conspiracy was Chaudhary's and alleged that he broke down after they failed to kill Ketan during their June 14 visit to the fort.

However, both have been remanded in police custody for 7 days until today (June 29).

The Devendra-Fadnavis government has approved the setting up of a fast-track court in the case and appointed senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Ujjwal Nikam as the Special Public Prosecutor after the deceased Ketan's family sought a speedy trial.

With inputs from agencies