Pune: Real estate firm director Ketan Agarwal’s fiancée, Siya Goyal, and her partner, Chetan Chaudhary, made at least three failed attempts to kill him at Lohagad Fort, before finally succeeding on June 18, the Pune Rural police said.According to the police, the first attempt was made on May 31, almost a week before a pre-wedding photoshoot scheduled in Bali on June 6. Ketan’s father Vishal Agarwal told TOI, “On May 31, Goyal attempted to push Ketan off the fort’s cliff. She nearly succeeded, but my son managed to save himself by clutching onto a bush. She masked the incident as an act of rescue, claiming she had pushed Ketan to protect him from a snake before hugging and saving him.”A second attempt on June 4 was thwarted when Ketan’s mother refused to let him revisit the fort so soon after the May 31 mishap, the police said.
Siya Goyal
In between, another suspicious episode unfolded. While travelling to Mumbai for their planned Bali trip, Goyal allegedly misplaced Ketan’s passport. Senior inspector Dinesh Tayade of the Lonavla Rural police said “Goyal, her brother, sister and Ketan had kept their documents together in a pouch. During a stop at a mall, Goyal returned alone to the car, claiming she had forgotten her phone.”“At that time, she might have misplaced Ketan’s passport. We are yet to question her about it,” Tayade said.The missing passport forced the group to abandon their Bali trip and return. “On June 14, Goyal managed to take Ketan to Lohagad Fort again. She, however, aborted the plan due to heavy footfall as it was a Sunday,” the officer said.
Chetan Chaudhary
On June 18, however, Goyal and her partner, Chaudhary, finally succeeded in pushing Ketan off a cliff into a 300-foot-deep gorge, he said.We initially rejected marriage proposal: Ketan’s fatherVishal, devastated and seeking justice, recounted the events with disbelief. “We had known Goyal’s family for 35-40 years. We never imagined something like this could happen,” he said.The father said the family had initially rejected Goyal’s marriage proposal due to her young age, she was just 20, but eventually agreed after her family insisted. The couple got engaged in Feb, and Goyal became a frequent visitor to their home, even joining them for family outings. “All along, we trusted her. We never doubted anything,” Vishal, visibly shaken, said.Vishal now believes more people may have been involved in his son’s murder. “I will approach the superintendent of police and demand action against everyone involved. I will also request a fast-track trial. I want justice for my son,” he said, clariffying that reports of a grand wedding planned in Jaipur were inaccurate. “The wedding was scheduled for the end of the year. No date had been fixed,” he added.Goyal & Chaudhary were in relationship for 8 months: SPSuperintendent of police (Pune Rural) Sandeep Singh Gill said Goyal and Chaudhary had been in a relationship for the past eight months. “Like Goyal’s family, Chaudhary’s family too runs wholesale businesses in Marketyard. Their families knew them as social friends, but we are now investigating whether they were aware of the relationship,” Gill said.
