Pune court extends custody of Siya and Chetan till July 3 in Ketan murder case

Police told the court the murder investigation is far from over, pointing to deleted digital evidence, an allegedly destroyed passport and suspected rehearsals before the killing. The court has now extended custody.

In Short

• Investigators seek deleted digital evidence, reconstruct conspiracy
• Police allege Goyal destroyed victim's passport, rehearsed murder at Lohagad Fort
• Defence lawyers oppose custody extension, cite legal precedents

A court in Pune district on Monday extended the police custody of Siya Goyal and her alleged lover Chetan Chaudhary till July 3 in the murder case of realtor Ketan Agarwal, after investigators told the court that crucial digital evidence was yet to be recovered and several aspects of the alleged conspiracy remained under investigation.

Judicial Magistrate First Class A M Vibhute at Vadgaon Maval passed the order after hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence. The duo's earlier police custody had ended on Monday.

Goyal, 20, the victim's fiance, and Chaudhary, 22, have been accused of conspiring to murder 25-year-old Agarwal by pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18.

POLICE CITE DELETED DATA, MISSING PASSPORT

Seeking further custody, the prosecution said investigators were tracing deleted digital evidence and reconstructing the alleged conspiracy.

Investigating officer Manoj Pawar told the court that the accused had been meeting at different locations to plan the crime and that "important digital data linked to the offence has been deleted and needs to be recovered".

Police also said they had recreated the crime scene with Goyal and intended to carry out a similar exercise with Chaudhary.

According to the prosecution, Chaudhary had spoken to some people at the fort before the murder, and investigators wanted to question him further about those interactions.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Rajashri Virkud also told the court that police were trying to recover Agarwal's passport, alleging that Goyal tore it up and flushed it in a food mall near Khopoli during a trip on June 6.

Police further told the court they were examining the accused's social media activity and recovering call records to determine whether anyone else played a role in planning the murder.

"Meetings were not normal... It's a clear conspiracy," the prosecutor argued, adding that investigators were examining whether "both committed the crime or whether there was another person who acted as the brain".

Police also said Agarwal's mobile phone remained with Goyal after the incident before it was handed over to his family, and data from the device still needed to be recovered.

'THEY REHEARSED THE MURDER'

The prosecution said the investigation had revealed that the accused had visited Lohagad Fort before the murder to identify a suitable location and rehearse the crime.

Investigators now want to identify all the spots where these alleged rehearsals took place.

Police had earlier recreated the crime scene at the fort using a dummy and said the exercise helped establish the sequence of events.

According to investigators, Goyal's act of sitting down during the trek was a pre-arranged signal for Chaudhary to push Agarwal off the cliff.

Police also claimed the signal was chosen deliberately to ensure Goyal remained out of Agarwal's reach in case he tried to grab her while falling.

Investigators further alleged that Chaudhary travelled nearly 90 km to the fort on a scooter instead of a car to avoid toll plaza surveillance and changed from a hoodie into a black T-shirt after reaching the fort before wearing the hoodie again while leaving to avoid attracting attention.

DEFENCE OPPOSES FURTHER CUSTODY

Counsel for Goyal, advocate Vipul Dushing, opposed the extension of police custody, arguing that her arrest itself was illegal.

"We strongly oppose this arrest. The arrest is completely illegal. We have submitted four different court judgments in support of our argument," he told the court.

Referring to the Supreme Court's Pankaj Bansal judgment, Dushing argued that the legal requirements for arrest had not been met.

He also said Goyal had fully cooperated with the investigation.

"Till now, the investigating officer has never stated that Siya has not cooperated with the investigation. She has been cooperating with the probe," he argued.

He questioned the need for further custody, saying Agarwal's phone had already been handed over, digital evidence had been seized and details of the investigation were already appearing in the media.

"When all the material has already been submitted, why do the police still require custody? The digital evidence has already been submitted," he argued.

Chaudhary's lawyer, Ram Shahane, also opposed the prosecution's plea, calling the reasons for seeking further custody "frivolous".

He argued that police had already seized Chaudhary's scooter and hoodie during the earlier remand period and could have recovered his trousers at the same time if they considered them important.

"Our names appeared only twice in the entire FIR. The custody was granted earlier for reasons such as confronting the accused during interrogation and conducting panchnamas," Shahane argued.

Following arguments from both sides, the court extended the police custody of Goyal and Chaudhary till July 3 to allow investigators to continue the probe.

- Ends