Pune, July 4, 2026: The investigation into the alleged murder of 25-year-old Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal took a fresh turn after a Pune court rejected the police's request to subject accused Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary to polygraph tests, following objections by the defence. The court remanded both to judicial custody till July 16.
Meanwhile, police questioned a youth from Maharashtra's Beed district over suspicions that he was part of discussions allegedly held by the duo about the murder plot.
Ketan Agarwal died after falling off a cliff during a trek with his fiancée, Siya Goyal, 20, at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala on June 18. The death was initially reported as accidental but later came under scrutiny after police questioning allegedly led to Goyal's confession to killing her fiancé.
The exact motive behind the alleged crime remains under investigation. Multiple theories have emerged during the probe, most of them centred on Siya's alleged reluctance to get married, including one claiming she was unhappy over Ketan wearing a wig.
Beed Youth Questioned
Police suspect that Siya Goyal and her alleged boyfriend, Chetan Chaudhary, had discussed their alleged plan to eliminate Agarwal with a youth from Beed, a former classmate of Chaudhary who now works for a private company in Balewadi, Pune.
According to earlier media reports, the duo had also invited him to accompany them to Lohagad Fort on June 18, the day Ketan was allegedly pushed into the gorge. The youth is said to have declined the invitation and allegedly advised them against carrying out such an act. Police are verifying his claims as part of the investigation.
Investigators have found that the youth had been in regular contact with Chaudhary since the last week of May. Police are now examining the trio's call detail records, digital chats and other electronic evidence to establish the sequence of events.
Dinesh Tayade, Senior Police Inspector at Lonavala Rural Police Station, said that the investigation is at a primary level. "After analysis of chats and call records, it is found that the youth was in contact with the accused. We are questioning him and will take the necessary steps accordingly."
Court Rejects Polygraph Plea
The accused were produced before Wadgaon Maval Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) A.M. Vibhute after their police remand expired on Friday.
The investigating agency had sought permission to conduct polygraph tests on Goyal and Chaudhary as part of its probe. However, the defence objected, stating that such examinations could not be conducted without the accused's consent.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Advocate Rajshree Birkud sought a three-day extension of police custody, arguing that data recovered from the accused's mobile phones contained chats in signs and coded language. Investigators maintained that further custodial interrogation was necessary to decode the conversations and advance the probe.
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However, counsel for the accused opposed the plea, arguing that police had already been given sufficient time to investigate and that further custodial interrogation was unnecessary.
After hearing both sides, the court rejected the prosecution's request for extended police custody and remanded the accused to judicial custody till July 16.
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