Who pushed Ketan Agarwal off the Lohagad fort cliff? His fiancée, Siya Goyal, or her ‘lover’?

The killing of Ketan Agarwal, a 26-year-old Pune realtor, has got the Indian public hooked.

The groom-to-be, Ketan, died after being pushed into a gorge at Lohagad Fort, Pune, Maharashtra, on June 18. The "accidental fall" theory floated by his fiancée, Siya Goyal, was in fact a carefully planned homicide, according to the investigators probing the matter.

Every chilling detail in the case is unnerving. As the Pune murder probe deepens, police have further revealed, indicating that it was Chetan Chaudhary, Goyal's alleged lover, who pushed Ketan off the cliff after receiving a go-ahead alert from Goyal.

Goyal and Ketan got engaged in February and were slated to tie the knot in a lavish wedding ceremony in Jaipur in November. After allegedly killing the Pune builder alongside her lover, Chaudhary, Goyal initially framed the entire incident as a "trekking accident"; however, cops later connected the dots, exposing the duo.

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Goyal and Chaudhary have been arrested and charged with murder.

We take a look.

Who pushed Ketan off? The bigger question

According to Pune Rural police, Goyal had given a pre-arranged signal to her lover Chaudhary before carrying out the murder. On the day of June 18, Chaudhary followed Ketan and Goyal to the hill fort. The accused Chaudhary waited for a signal from Goyal near a secluded cliff. All this was carefully premeditated before the attack.

“They had agreed that Goyal would sit down to alert Chaudhary. Once she did, he approached Agarwal from behind and pushed him off the cliff before fleeing," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Gajanan Tompe, adding the duo planned the murder in advance, the News18 reported.

In a major breakthrough, the CCTV footage from near Lohagad’s foothills showed a hooded man, later identified as Chaudhary, trailing the pair.

Lonavla Rural police inspector Dinesh Tayade said, as quoted by Times of India (TOI), "We also observed Goyal signalling to him. Chaudhary spent less than 10 minutes at the top of the fort and completed the ascent and descent in under 50 minutes. A security guard recalled the man claiming he had come for exercise when questioned about entry."

According to cops, the place, the Vinchu Kata ridge overlooking the Pavana dam, was chosen as the prime location because it is isolated, with fewer visitors on weekdays.

“The spot was more secluded than other areas of the fort. We suspect the duo may have visited earlier to conduct reconnaissance. We are interrogating them," the officer added.

Duo searched for murder methods to kill Ketan?

In another hair-raising detail, both accused Goyal and Chaudhary searched online for murder methods to kill Ketan before allegedly implementing the plan at Lohagad Fort, police allege.

The constant communication between Goyal and Chaudhary has also surfaced with investigators claiming that the duo’s internet activity, call records and messages indicate a premeditated murder conspiracy that culminated in Ketan's death.

Police said, citing forensic examination of phone records, that Goyal and Chaudhary searched online for various methods to kill a person in the days leading up to the incident.

2,004 calls were exchanged between January and June this year. The records also revealed that they spent 238 hours talking to each other in the last six months.

Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, asserted: "The investigation indicates that the murder was planned in advance. Their digital footprint, including internet searches and communication records, forms a crucial part of the evidence," Hindustan Times reported.

They both often communicated through FaceTime and WhatsApp calls, police allege, adding that frequency of contact further raised suspicion regarding the nature of their relationship and the alleged murder conspiracy.

“The technical analysis established a close connection between the duo and pointed towards a well-thought-out conspiracy," the officer added.

“The probe has also revealed that on the day of the incident, Goyal and Chaudhary allegedly met at a cafe before heading to Lohagad Fort and discussed the plan to eliminate Agarwal," Gill added.

Did Chaudhary evade detection? What he told the police

Investigators discovered that the accused, Chaudhary, was working at a shop in Pune’s Market Yard area. Goyal's family business is also established in the same location. The conspiracy was finalised on June 16 and 17, police claim.

The digital trail debunked what officials describe as attempts to evade detection. According to cops, the accused Chaudhary's internet connection remained switched off from 7 am to 5.40 pm on June 18. He reportedly left his own phone at his shop and took a staff member's mobile phone to avoid location tracking.

However, the hoodie Chaudhary was wearing helped the cops identify him. Police also analysed the footage and online photographs of Chaudhary to match his face with the hoodie man.

During interrogation, when police asked Chaudhary why he and Goyal did not choose to run away together, according to police, he responded that Goyal did not wish to break the engagement and elope as it would have brought shame to her family. 

Good friends; never saw her... accused father's contradicting claims

The accused Chaudhary's father has denied his son's involvement in the case. Babulal Chaudhary, the father, told HT that his son is being framed in the matter.

“Chetan told me that he was staying away from them at the fort. He is being framed by the so-called wealthy people. Siya and Chetan were good friends, and to save herself, she implicated my son,” he told the publication.

At one point, he said Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were good friends; however, while speaking to ANI, the father asserted that the Chaudhary family had no idea who Goyal was.

"We have never seen the girl in question and know absolutely nothing about her. In fact, I only found out about her name, Siya, yesterday... I have never seen her before. I saw her for the first time at the police station," he told ANI on Wednesday (June 24).

Further defending his son, he said, "My son is not like that... He is not involved in the case," adding he was not aware that his son and Goyal were having an affair.

The accused uncle, Udayram Chaudhary, also said that he is "completely innocent".

However, both Goyal and Chaudhary, who are charged with murder, are being interrogated by the police. Ketan's sister and the family's suspicion of Goyal grew, leading to further investigation and the arrest of both accused. The investigation is ongoing.

With inputs from agencies