Lagatar24 Desk
Pune: Police investigating the murder of Pune-based realtor Ketan Agarwal are now probing whether his fiancée, Siya Goyal, had secretly married her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, months before Agarwal’s death, adding a fresh dimension to a case that has already seen multiple twists.
Investigators Probe Alleged Secret Marriage Between Goyal and Chaudhary
Goyal, 20, and Chaudhary, 22, are accused of pushing 25-year-old Agarwal off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18, and both remain in judicial custody. A senior official from the Pune Rural Police said that analysis of chats exchanged between the two indicated they may have secretly married, with unconfirmed rumours also circulating about the union; police are now verifying the claim and checking whether the marriage was legally registered. Another senior officer said the accused had themselves referenced the alleged marriage during questioning, and investigators are analysing their communication on a mobile messaging app to confirm the claim, while also trying to establish where the marriage may have taken place and whether it occurred before or after Goyal’s engagement to Agarwal on February 19.
Case Shifts from Accidental Fall to Planned Murder
Agarwal died after falling into a gorge at Lohagad Fort on June 18. Goyal had initially told police that he slipped while the couple were taking photographs, leading officers to first register the case as an accidental death. However, subsequent investigation involving digital evidence and witness statements led police to conclude the death was the result of a planned murder, with investigators alleging that Goyal and Chaudhary conspired to kill Agarwal because he had become an obstacle to their relationship, and that the pair had rehearsed the crime beforehand.
Digital Evidence, Snapchat Message Deepen Investigation
Investigators are examining mobile phone data, chat records and other digital evidence recovered from the accused, and found that Goyal’s phone records showed searches related to the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, a similar cliff-death case from Meghalaya in May that had drawn national attention, prior to Agarwal’s death; officials are now studying whether these searches bear any relevance to the alleged planning. Police have also recovered a Snapchat message allegedly sent by Goyal to a friend in May, weeks before Agarwal’s death, in which she reportedly asked the friend to share a copy of her Aadhaar card for travel bookings related to her planned wedding with Agarwal in Udaipur, while suggesting the wedding would never actually happen. According to police, Agarwal’s family had already begun arranging travel for relatives for the planned November wedding and had sought Aadhaar details from Goyal’s family for ticket bookings. Investigators are now planning to question the friend to determine whether she had any prior knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, while also verifying the authenticity of the Snapchat message.
Family Tragedy Adds to Case’s Toll
In a related development, Agarwal’s 71-year-old grandfather, Devichand Agarwal, died of cardiac arrest at a Pune hospital on Saturday evening, according to a close family member, who said he had been hospitalised for the past few days.
