In a significant development in the Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal murder case, a magistrate court in Maharashtra has remanded Siya Goyal and her boyfriend, Chetan Chaudhary, to judicial custody for a period of 14 days. The decision was made by Judicial Magistrate A.M. Vibhute at Wadgaon Mawal, near Pune, following the rejection of a police plea for an extension of their custody.
Court Proceedings and Custody Ruling
The local police had sought an additional three days to retain the accused in custody, arguing that more time was necessary to interrogate them based on evidence collected during the ongoing investigation. The grounds for the extension request primarily involved further questioning regarding data recovered from the accused’s mobile phones. Additionally, the police had seized another mobile phone allegedly belonging to Siya Goyal.
The defense, represented by Advocates Vipul Dushing for Goyal and Ram Shahane for Chaudhary, opposed the application, asserting that the accused had already been in custody for a sufficient duration and had cooperated with the investigation. Ultimately, the court denied the extension of police custody and ordered the transfer of the accused to judicial custody. Both Goyal and Chaudhary are expected to file for bail in the coming days.
Allegations and Investigation
Meanwhile, Advocate Dushing filed an application claiming that Goyal had been illegally detained by the police, which was subsequently dismissed by the magistrate. The police had also filed an application on June 27 to conduct a polygraph test on the accused, although they have yet to pursue this course of action.
Ketan Agarwal, a director at Success Group, was killed at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala, Maharashtra. Initially reported as an accidental death at the Lonavala Rural Police Station, the incident prompted a deeper investigation following a complaint by Agarwal’s family. Authorities examined call records, mobile location data, and CCTV footage from the fort, which revealed a man in a hoodie and face mask, later identified as Chaudhary, covertly following the couple during their trek.
Charges and Allegations
Five days after Agarwal’s death, on June 23, police arrested Goyal and Chaudhary. They were charged under Section 103 (murder) and Section 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The Wadgaon Mawal court initially remanded them to seven days of police custody, which was extended until July 3.
According to police allegations, the murder was premeditated. Goyal reportedly did not wish to marry Agarwal but was reluctant to call off the wedding due to potential family disrepute. Consequently, she allegedly conspired with Chaudhary to orchestrate Agarwal’s murder. Investigators also claim that the accused had attempted to take Agarwal’s life in an earlier failed attempt on June 14.
