A 640-minute period during which murder accused Chetan Chaudhary deliberately remained offline on the day Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal died has emerged as a major breakthrough in police investigations, with investigators saying the move finally helped them trace his alleged role in the murder plot.
Siya Goyal, a 20-year-old woman from Maharashtra in Pune, has been accused of killing her fiancé, Ketan Agarwal, by pushing him off a cliff during a trip to Lohagad Fort near Lonavala on June 18 with the help of Chetan Chaudhary, 22, with whom he was allegedly in a relationship.
According to police, Chetan turned off the internet connection on his mobile phone at around 7 am on June 18 and remained offline till 5:40 pm, HT reported earlier. Investigators allege he intentionally left his phone in his store and carried one of his employees’ cell phones to prevent police from tracking his location.
However, this strategy backfired. Chetan’s disappearance for around 640 minutes from the same digital network has raised suspicions, police said.
Every incoming call to Chetan is verified
Investigators then examined every incoming call made on Chetan’s phone during this period. According to police, all the callers gave a similar account – though their calls were answered, they never spoke to Chetan. Instead, employees working at his store answered the calls.
On Wednesday, the police summoned the employee to the police station and began recording his statements.
The investigation also led the police to examine call detail records of accused Sia Goyal and her alleged lover Chetan Chaudhary. According to the Pune Rural Police, the records revealed the extent of contact between the two and helped investigators unravel their alleged secret relationship.
A senior police officer involved in the investigation said that from January 1 to June 18, Siya and Chetan spoke on the phone 2,004 times. The investigation also revealed that the duo spent a total of 238 hours talking to each other over a period of approximately six months.
2004 Calls between Siya and Chetan
“After analyzing the CDR data between the accused, we learned that there were more than 2,004 calls between them, with an average of 8-10 calls per day,” said Dinesh Tayadi, senior police inspector of Lonavla Rural Police Station and investigating officer in the case.
The officer also confirmed that calls and messages between Siya and Chetan continued even after Ketan Agarwal’s murder. Police are examining call logs among several pieces of evidence as they continue to investigate the alleged conspiracy behind the murder.
“Yes, we have recovered calls and conversations between Sia and her boyfriend, and the analysis of this data is still ongoing,” Pune Rural Police Superintendent Sandeep Singh Gill said.
Sia and Ketan got engaged in February and were scheduled to get married in November this year. Police suspect that Sia was unwilling to go ahead with the arranged marriage, but could not publicly reveal her secret relationship with her family, fearing that breaking off the engagement and eloping with Chetan would disgrace them and tarnish their social standing.
“Given the societal pressure and her family’s image, she did not have the option of eloping with Chetan. Hence, she may have decided to find a middle way to ensure that she does not marry Ketan while keeping her family status intact,” an officer familiar with the case said.
Instead of breaking off the engagement, Sia allegedly conspired with Chetan to eliminate her fiancé. Police allege that the duo carefully planned and carried out Ketan’s murder, which was initially presented as an accidental fall during a trek in Lohagad Fort on June 18.
Murder methods researched on the phone
Sources from the Pune Rural Police confirmed that Sia and Chetan searched for several crime-related methods on their mobile phones. Although Siya was only 20 years old, the police claim that she was sharp in her planning and allegedly chose Lohagad Fort to execute the plan. According to the police, she repeatedly insisted that Ketan visit the fort again and again. Police said they were confident the murder would not be uncovered.
However, her suspicious behavior after Ketan’s death and during his funeral put her under the microscope of the Agarwal family.
Speaking to HT, Vishal Agarwal, Ketan’s father, said: “When the body was recovered and all our family members were shocked, Sia was behaving like a very normal person, which my daughter noticed for the first time.”
He also claimed that while the family was too distraught to think clearly, Sia was speaking with police officers at the scene, asking about next steps and actions.
“Maybe she was preparing for a counter-action and hence, was asking for more police actions and actions,” Agarwal said.
When HT tried to contact Praveen Goyal, Sia’s father, to know his reaction, it learned that he had been taken to hospital after he felt uncomfortable after Sia’s arrest.
Vishal Agarwal also claimed that Chetan’s sister was a close friend of Sia, suggesting that Sia’s relationship was likely known to family members.
Chetan’s family refutes the allegations
Meanwhile, Babulal Chaudhary, Chetan Chaudhary’s father, refuted the accusations against his son and claimed that he has been implicated in the case.
“Chetan told me that he was staying away from them in the fort. He was framed by the so-called rich people. Siya and Chetan were good friends and to save herself, she implicated my son,” he said.
Meanwhile, during custodial interrogation, Sia told the police that she was unhappy with her engagement to Ketan Agarwal. According to Pune Rural Police, Sia allegedly informed Ketan that she did not wish to continue the relationship and urged him not to go ahead with the planned marriage. However, she claimed that Ketan continued to pursue the relationship and remained committed to the wedding preparations despite her objections.
Police are currently verifying these allegations as part of their ongoing investigation into the case.
