Pune, July 3: The Ketan Agarwal murder case entered a new phase on Friday as a Pune court remanded the two accused, Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary, to fourteen days of judicial custody, ending more than two weeks of continuous police remand. The duo will remain in jail until July 16.
Siya Goyal, 20, and Chetan Chaudhary, 22, are accused of pushing 26-year-old Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal to his death from a cliff at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala on June 18. Ketan and Siya were engaged and were set to marry in November this year.
Court Rejects Police Plea for Extended Custody
The two accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class A M Vibhute at the Vadgaon Maval court after the expiry of their police custody, which had been extended twice since their arrests. Before being brought to court, Siya Goyal was taken to a government hospital for a routine medical examination.
The prosecution pressed for a further three-day extension of police custody, arguing that data recovered from the mobile phones of both accused contained chats written in signs and coded language, and that continued custodial interrogation was necessary to decipher those conversations.
The defence strongly opposed the plea, contending that the police had already been given sufficient time and that further custodial interrogation was unwarranted. After hearing both sides, the magistrate rejected the extension request and remanded the two accused in judicial custody till July 16.
The Rehearsal Revelation
The most striking disclosure to emerge from the investigation is the allegation that the murder was rehearsed in advance. According to Pune Rural Police, the probe has revealed that Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary allegedly practised how to push Ketan Agarwal off the cliff at a hillock-like open space near a club in the Lulla Nagar area of Pune. Investigators said Siya was taken to the spot during the custody period, where she allegedly identified the exact location where the rehearsal was carried out.
If established in court, the rehearsal claim would further strengthen the prosecution’s case that the killing was a cold, premeditated conspiracy rather than an act of impulse.
Accused Blame Each Other, Polygraph on the Cards
With Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary reportedly blaming each other over who actually pushed Ketan from the cliff, Pune Rural Police are now preparing to seek court approval for polygraph tests on both accused. Siya has reportedly consented to undergo the lie-detector test. Investigators are also continuing to examine deleted WhatsApp chats and call records to establish the precise sequence of events on the night of June 18.
What Happens Next
With the accused now in judicial custody, the investigative focus shifts to forensic consolidation, including the pending analysis of the allegedly coded phone chats, the polygraph proceedings, and the compilation of the chargesheet. The Maharashtra government has already approved a fast-track trial, with Senior Advocate Ujjwal Nikam appointed as Special Public Prosecutor. The next major trigger in the case will be either the polygraph test outcome or the July 16 production, whichever comes first.
This report is based on information provided by police and court proceedings. All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
