Ketan Agarwal's murder was rehearsed, cops take Siya Goyal home for evidence
The investigation into the murder of Pune-based realtor Ketan Agarwal took a significant turn on Thursday after police took prime accused Siya Goyal to her
The investigation into the murder of Pune-based realtor Ketan Agarwal took a significant turn on Thursday after police took prime accused Siya Goyal to her residence to recover evidence and uncovered what they describe as an alleged 'rehearsal' of the murder plot before the crime. A team from the Lonavala Rural Police remained at Goyal's residence for nearly one-and-a-half hours, where officials seized the clothes she allegedly wore on June 18, the day Agarwal died after falling from a cliff at Lohagad Fort. Read Full Story During the course of the investigation, police also claimed to have discovered that Goyal and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary had allegedly rehearsed their plan to push Agarwal off the fort.
According to officials, the alleged rehearsal took place at a location barely five minutes from Goyal's residence. Police said the development strengthens their suspicion that the murder was premeditated. Officials are continuing to collect additional evidence as part of the ongoing probe. The case has attracted nationwide attention since Agarwal was allegedly pushed into a gorge at Lohagad Fort on June 18. He was engaged to Goyal, and the couple was scheduled to marry in November. Police have accused Goyal and Chaudhary of conspiring to murder Agarwal. Both were arrested after the incident and remain in police custody until July 3 while the investigation continues.
Meanwhile, Pune Rural Police have approached a court seeking permission to conduct a polygraph test on Goyal. Officials told the court that, apart from the statements of the accused, they do not have any direct eyewitness or conclusive evidence identifying who allegedly pushed Agarwal into the gorge. Police argued that although the statements of Goyal and Chaudhary have already been recorded, a lie-detector test could help generate fresh leads in the investigation. As part of the probe, police have also recreated the crime scene with both accused. On July 1, police conducted a reconstruction exercise with Chaudhary at Lohagad Fort to establish the sequence of events.
A similar exercise had earlier been carried out with Goyal, during which investigators used a dummy to recreate the alleged fall. Cops are also examining whether any evidence was deleted from Agarwal's mobile phone. Police said the device remained in Goyal's possession for some time after the incident before it was handed over to Agarwal's family. Forensic experts are analysing the phone to determine whether any crucial data was deleted or tampered with during that period. Ends
The BriefWire