That was June 18th. Businessman Ketan Vishal Agarwal went to Lohagad Fort near Lonavala with his fiancée Siya Goyal. It was supposed to be a birthday outing for Siya, who was due to turn 20 the next day.
The first version of what happened came from Sia. She told the police that Ketan slipped while taking photos near the fort and fell into the valley.
Police initially treated the matter as an accidental death. A report was drawn up regarding the incident, and the case appeared closed on the superficial level.
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But Ketan’s family was not convinced. They said he was an experienced traveler and knew the terrain well and would not have lost his balance so easily in that place.
This doubt changed everything.
Family suspicions reopened the case
Ketan’s family raised questions with investigators. They noted that he was familiar with Lohagad Fort and had traveled there before.
The police then started a proper investigation. They started checking CCTV footage, mobile phone location data, and movements of everyone who was in the fort that day.
The mistake that caught the killers
One of the first major breakthroughs came from CCTV footage at the foothills of Lohagad.
Police observed a person wearing a hooded jacket with a hood, as well as headphones. Senior Police Inspector Dinesh Tayadi and his team checked local weather records for June 18 and found that the temperature that morning was 33 degrees Celsius.
Investigators found the choice of clothing suspicious and began tracking the person’s movement.
This person was later identified as Chetan Chaudhary, Siya Goyal’s lover.
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“When we checked the temperature on June 18, the temperature was 33 degrees Celsius that morning. While checking CCTV footage from the hillsides, we noticed a person wearing a jacket with his hood up and also wearing headphones. This raised suspicions as such clothing was unusual considering the weather conditions,” Tayadi told HT.
Police say these individual details helped them narrow down the list of suspects and link him to the scene.
A phone he left behind
While investigators were tracking Chetan’s movements, they discovered other unusual details. Police say he left his mobile phone at his residence in Kondhwa before going to Lohagad Fort. According to investigators, this appears to be an attempt to avoid digital tracking.
Despite this, CCTV footage and call detail records helped the police to reconstruct his movements.
Soon, both Chetan and Siya are brought in for interrogation.
2000 calls and alleged plans
During the investigation, the police found that Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary had been in regular contact for months.
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According to officials, call logs showed that more than 2,000 phone calls were exchanged between them, according to PTI. Investigators also said that the two met at a cafe before the incident, where they allegedly discussed how and where an “accident” could have occurred inside Lohagad Fort.
The alleged sequence in Lohagad Fort
Police reconstruction of events suggests that Chetan arrived at the fort before Ketan and Siya on 18 June. Siya and Ketan arrive later.
Investigators say that the accused led Ketan towards an isolated area of the castle. The police claim that he was pushed here into the valley.
He died later.
First failed attempt
Four days before the incident, Ketan and Siya visited Lohagad Fort together. During that previous trip, Ketan’s father later told police that his son felt someone pushing him from behind. He managed to save himself by clinging to nearby bushes.
Sia reportedly explained the matter by saying she saw a snake and was trying to help him.
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Ketan reportedly asked his family about Sia’s behaviour. He said she was always talking on her phone and mentioned a man called Chetan. Because the two families knew each other through business circles, his father reassured him that everything was fine.
“We thought of postponing the wedding as she was very young, but her parents insisted on going ahead with it as they would not find a partner like my son,” Ketan’s father, Vishal Agarwal, told HT.
Lost passport and canceled Bali trip
Investigators also found another suspicious incident.
Ketan and Sia were scheduled to fly to Bali for a pre-wedding photo shoot. But the flight was canceled at Mumbai airport after Ketan’s passport disappeared.
Ketan’s family alleged that Siya may have taken the passport during his stopover in Lonavala, leading to the flight being cancelled.
The hidden relationship
Ketan and Sia got engaged in February. The wedding was scheduled to take place in November, and preparations were already underway.
Families have even booked a palace in Udaipur, with plans to throw a grand party worthy of it $14 Crores.
During the investigation, the police found that Siya and Chetan were in a relationship for more than a year, which Ketan’s family was not aware of.
Both Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were arrested and charged with murder and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. They have been remanded in police custody for seven days, according to PTI.
Investigators say the case is still under investigation.
