Siya Goyal decided to kill Ketan to ‘dishonour her family’: Co-accused Chetan reveals motive in Pune case | Today’s news
Siya Goyal did not want to walk away from her engagement to Ketan Agarwal and elope with her lover Chetan Chaudhary in fear of family humiliation, so she decided to kill her fiancé instead.
26-year-old Ketan died while trekking in Lohagad Fort near Pune on June 18. He was allegedly pushed into the ravine by his fiancee Siya (20) and her lover Chetan (22).
During the interrogation, co-accused Chetan was asked why they did not consider fleeing and instead decided to eliminate Ketan. “According to him, Siya was not in favor of calling off the engagement and eloping with Chetan as she thought it would bring disrespect to her family,” police sources told PTI.
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Siya Goyal’s motive for killing Ketan Agrawal stemmed from her relationship with Chetan Chaudhary and her reluctance to continue with the marriage, fearing dishonor to the family if she eloped.
The police uncover the plot by analyzing CCTV footage from the Lohagad fort, uncovering Chetan’s suspicious behavior and gathering evidence of previous attempts on Ketan’s life, including Siya’s insistence on multiple visits to the fort.
Siya Goyal allegedly hid Ketan’s passport to sabotage their planned trip to Bali, which was part of her strategy to avoid the marriage by creating obstacles.
There were at least two attempts on Ketan’s life before his murder, including Siya’s failed push on June 14, which she covered up by claiming it was a snake.
After the failed hit on 14 June, Siya Goyal raised a false alarm about the snake to mask her actions, claiming that she was trying to protect Ketan during the incident.
Police said Siya and Chetan wanted to “eliminate” Ketan before she and the businessman were to leave for Bali for a pre-wedding photoshoot. This trip didn’t happen because Ketan’s passport mysteriously disappeared before the trip.
Read also | Siya tried to push Ketan down Lohagad Fort four days before the murder: Family
Ketan’s uncle also told the police that Siya had earlier expressed reservations about the marriage and had once asked if the wedding could be postponed by a year.
Siya and Ketan got engaged in February and were to marry in a grand wedding ceremony in Udaipur in November, for which a palace was booked.
At 33°C, the sweatshirt gave away the lovers
Chetan Chaudhary was identified as a co-accused in Ketan’s murder due to CCTV footage from the fort showing a man wearing a hoodie despite the temperature being around 33 degrees Celsius.
According to a PTI report, the police found the sweatshirt unusual and its overall suspicious movements prompted them to further investigate Ketan’s death, which initially appeared to be a tragic accident on the trek.
Read also | Ketan Agarwal murder: How cops zeroed in on the suspect
“During the investigation of the case, we came across certain circumstances of the incident which raised suspicion and prompted a deeper investigation. We checked the CCTV cameras installed at the fort’s ticket office where we saw Ketan and Siya walking together,” said a police officer who was part of the investigation.
While examining the footage in detail, the police noticed a man who was a few meters behind Ketan and Siya.
“The man was wearing shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. The front of the sweatshirt was pulled down so low that his face could not be seen. The man also had a headset on over the sweatshirt. In the next shot, we noticed that Siya suddenly looked back and at the same time the hooded man suddenly sat down,” the official said.
He said they later checked the temperature at that particular time on June 18 and found it to be 33 degrees Celsius and wondered why anyone would be wearing a hoodie in that heat.
Read also | Pune police revealed chilling details in the Ketan Agrawal case
It was not the first attempt on Ketan’s life
“During the investigation of Ketan’s sister Sanjana and other family members, we learned that Siya had repeatedly convinced Agarwal to accompany her to Lohagad Fort before the fatal incident,” the officer said. “On May 31, Siya took Ketan to Lohagad Fort. She again insisted that he go to Lohagad Fort on June 4. But Ketan’s mother did not allow him to go there a second time.”
Siya once again insisted that Ketan go to Lohagad on 14 June. She allegedly tried to push Ketan off a cliff that day. However, he managed to keep the bush. As Ketan wondered why he had been pushed, she raised a false alarm about the snake and tried to make it look like she was protecting it, the officer said.
He added that following this development, investigators expanded the probe and analyzed technical evidence, including detailed call logs and digital communications data.
