A court in Pune district on Monday extended the police custody of Siya Goyal and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary till July 3 in the murder case of realtor Ketan Agarwal, after the prosecution said further custodial interrogation was needed to probe the exact crime scene and trace the victim’s missing passport.
The two accused were produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate A.M. Vibhute in Vadgaon Maval after their initial period of police custody ended.
Goyal, 20, the fiancée of the victim, and her alleged lover, Chaudhary, 22, were arrested for allegedly conspiring to murder Agarwal and pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18.
Why did the court extend Siya and Chetan’s police custody
Seeking an extension of their custody, the prosecution told the court that the investigation had revealed the accused had visited the fort in advance to identify a suitable location for the murder. Police said they needed to ascertain the exact spots where the alleged reconnaissance and rehearsals were carried out.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Rajashri Virkud also told the court that investigators wanted to question Goyal about the whereabouts of Agarwal’s passport, which she allegedly disposed of while travelling to Mumbai on June 6.
Opposing the plea, Goyal’s counsel, advocate Vipul Dushing, argued that her arrest was illegal and carried out without valid grounds.
The court remanded both accused to police custody till July 3.
Latest updates on the case
Police on Sunday took Siya to Lohagad Fort to reconstruct the crime scene, using a dummy to recreate the moment he was pushed to his death, an official said.
The exercise was aimed at establishing the exact chain of events of the June 18 incident, when the 25-year-old victim was allegedly killed by Siya and Chetan.
“The accused was taken to the actual spot where the incident took place,” a senior official from the Pune rural police said.
He said that a dummy body was created, and police officials asked Goyal to demonstrate how she pushed Ketan from the location. She also showed the route taken to reach the crime spot.
In the latest investigation updates, police have found that Siya sat down not only to signal Chetan to push him off Lohagad Fort, but also to ensure she remained out of the victim’s reach during the fall.
(With inputs from PTI)
