PUNE: The investigation into the alleged murder of realtor Ketan Agarwal has taken a fresh turn, with Lonavala Rural Police claiming that recovered mobile phone chats contradict prime accused Siya Goyal’s statements during interrogation, even as investigators allege that co-accused Chetan Chaudhary instigated her to eliminate her fiancé.According to investigators, Siya claimed she had repeatedly told Ketan that she did not want to marry him, but he allegedly insisted that it was “too late” and that things had “gone too far” to call off the wedding.However, police said chats recovered from the mobile phones of both Ketan and Siya tell a different story.“The conversations show they interacted like a typical couple and exchanged affectionate messages before the wedding. Based on the chats recovered from the phones, her claims are not convincing,” a police official said, adding that every aspect of the case is being examined.Police officials said Siya has been giving inconsistent statements and has “started spinning stories” during questioning.Investigators also claimed that sustained questioning of the two accused revealed that it was Chetan Chaudhary who allegedly persuaded and instigated Siya to kill Ketan at Lohagad Fort.“From the questioning of both the accused, it has come to light that Chaudhary instigated Siya Goyal to eliminate Agarwal at Lohagad Fort,” a police official said. Police also questioned Siya’s brother as part of the ongoing probe.According to investigators, Siya and Chaudhary, who were allegedly in a relationship, conspired to kill 25-year-old Ketan Agarwal by pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort on June 18.Police had earlier said that after reaching the cliff edge, Siya allegedly gave a pre-arranged signal, following which Chaudhary pushed an unsuspecting Ketan into the gorge.Investigators suspect Siya was unwilling to marry at this stage of her life and was under family pressure to go ahead with the marriage. They believe this could have been one of the motives behind the alleged crime.Responding to reports that Siya disliked Ketan because he wore a wig, a police source said Ketan did wear a hair patch, but there was nothing to suggest that it was the sole reason behind the alleged motive.Ketan’s father, Vishal Agarwal, confirmed that his son wore a small wig patch and said the fact had been disclosed to Siya and her family before the engagement.“If she had any issue, she should have refused the marriage. What was the need to kill my son?” he asked.Meanwhile, Siya’s mother claimed her daughter had been reluctant to accompany Ketan to Lohagad Fort on June 18.She alleged that during a video call on June 17, Ketan invited Siya for the trip, and his mother also urged her to join. According to her, Siya declined initially, saying she wanted to rest ahead of a family function scheduled the next day, but eventually agreed.Siya’s father also dismissed reports that the family had planned an extravagant wedding with a chartered aircraft. He said the wedding was to be held in Udaipur, with around 70 hotel rooms booked at a cost of Rs 81,000 per room per day, and maintained that the total wedding expenditure would not have exceeded Rs 3 crore.Both Siya Goyal (20) and Chetan Chaudhary (22), arrested on June 23, remain in police custody till June 29.In a parallel development, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met Ketan’s father in Pune on Friday and assured him of a thorough investigation and strict punishment for those found guilty.The chief minister also accepted the family’s demand for a fast-track trial and agreed to appoint senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor in the case.(With PTI inputs)
