Ketan Agarwal murder: Cops to match Chetan Chaudhary's gait with CCTV

Court extended the police custody of Chetan Chaudhary and Siya Goyal as police submitted that several aspects of the case still need to be examined, including the exact location of the crime, deleted digital evidence and Ketan's missing passport.

In Short

• Court extends custody of Chetan and Siya Goyal till July 3
• Pune Police to conduct gait analysis of Chetan using CCTV
• Deleted digital evidence, Ketan's missing passport key to probe

Police probing the murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal told a court on Monday that they plan to conduct a gait analysis of accused Chetan Chaudhary and compare CCTV footage from Lohagad Fort with a recreated video of his movements.

Gait analysis is a forensic technique used to identify suspects by analysing the way they walk, particularly when they conceal their faces with a mask, hoodie or helmet to evade facial recognition. This was relevant in the present case as Chetan wore a hoodie on the day of the crime.

The court, then, extended the police custody of Chetan and Siya Goyal, Ketan's fiancee, until July 3.

Investigators told the court that several aspects of the case still need to be examined, including the exact location of the crime on the fort, deleted digital evidence, and the victim's missing passport.

Siya, 20, and Chetan, 22, were arrested for killing Ketan, 25, and pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18.

Police plan to recreate the CCTV footage by having him wear a similar hoodie and walk in the same area in a similar manner, so that his gait can be compared with that of the person captured on camera.

He said, "We are planning to conduct a gait analysis of Chetan. We have CCTV footage showing him walking while wearing a hoodie to hide his face. The gait analysis will compare his locomotion in the CCTV footage with the recreated video to determine whether the walking patterns match."

Earlier in the day, the two accused were produced before the court of AM Vibhute in Vadgaon Maval after their initial police custody ended. Assistant public prosecutor Rajashri Virkud told the court the investigation had shown that the duo had visited the fort to identify the spot from where Ketan could be pushed off the cliff.

She said, "Police want to question both the accused on this aspect, and hence the extension of custody is needed." She also told the court that the two had met repeatedly at different locations to hatch the conspiracy and police wanted to investigate those meetings in detail.

The prosecution further told the court, "The accused deleted digital data that constitutes crucial evidence; the process of recovering this data is currently underway. Once retrieved, this data will serve as the basis for a thorough interrogation of the accused." It said a reconstruction of the sequence of events, based on Siya's statement, was carried out on June 28 and now needed to be verified with Chetan.

The prosecution added, "During the incident, both the accused interacted with certain individuals at Lohagad Fort. Based on CCTV footage obtained, a thorough investigation regarding the crime needs to be conducted with the accused in the context of these interactions."

The prosecution also said Siya did not want to travel to Bali with Ketan for a pre-wedding shoot. It alleged that she removed his passport from his bag and threw it away somewhere at Khalapur food mall in Raigad district while they were travelling from Pune to Mumbai.

It told the court, "Therefore, the deceased's passport needs to be located and recovered with the assistance of Siya." The prosecution also said some important witnesses had recently come forward and would be confronted with the accused so that their statements could be verified.

Advocate Vipul Dushing, appearing for Siya, argued that her arrest was illegal and without valid grounds. Chetan's lawyer, Ram Shahane, said his client's role in the FIR was very limited and undefined. Separately, there was a brief dispute in court when an advocate identifying himself as Aashutosh Shrivastav said he would represent Siya and submitted a vakalatnama carrying what was said to be her signature. Siya and her family, however, told the court that Dushing was representing her.

On Sunday, police had taken Siya to Lohagad Fort to reconstruct the crime scene using a human-sized dummy. Police said Siya sat down to signal Chetan to push Ketan off the cliff. They also said Chetan had travelled to the fort on a scooter instead of by car because he feared a car could be detected at a toll plaza.

A police official had said, "He climbed the fort wearing a hoodie. Later, he removed it and remained in a black T-shirt. While leaving, he put on the hoodie again," adding that investigators believed this was done to avoid attention. Police said he returned to Pune on the same scooter after the crime. Last week, investigators also questioned Siya's parents and brother at length and recorded their statements.

The court was told that the investigation is now focused on matching Chetan's movements through gait analysis, verifying the reconstructed sequence of events, tracing the victim's passport and examining deleted digital evidence and witness statements as police continue to build the case.

- Ends