PUNE: Investigators in the Pune's Lohagad Fort murder case have decided to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to analyse the walking pattern and body language of co-accused Chetan Chaudhary in an effort to strengthen evidence against him.
Police alleged that 20-year-old Siya Goyal and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Chetan Chaudhary, pushed 25-year-old Pune-based developer Ketan Agarwal from a cliff at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala, leading to his death.
According to police, Chetan allegedly played an active role in the crime but tried to conceal his identity by wearing a hoodie, cap and goggles, and changing his T-shirt from white to black. His face was not clearly visible in the CCTV footage.
"We are collecting various CCTV footage of Chetan Chaudhary and analyzing it with the help of AI technology. We want to evaluate Chetan Chaudhary's movement, walking speed, stride length, and posture. We want to study and identify the similarities and establish that the person seen in CCTV is the same person involved in the killing of Ketan Agarwal at Lohagad Fort. We have to use the technology to go close to the accused and study his behavioral pattern. The court has granted five days police custody of Siya and Chetan. We will take them to Lohagad fort to recreate the scene and ascertain the crime," said Pune Rural Police, which is part of the investigation team.
Investigators said AI-based gait analysis will be used to compare Chetan's movements with CCTV footage recorded near Lohagad Fort. The move comes after a Pune rural court extended the police custody of Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary till July 3 for further investigation.
Police told the court they are still trying to identify the exact spot on Lohagad Fort where Ketan was allegedly pushed into the gorge. Investigators also plan to question the accused about their earlier visits to the fort, which they believe were made to identify a suitable location before the alleged crime.
Police also informed the court that both accused had allegedly deleted crucial data from their mobile phones after the incident. Cyber experts are trying to retrieve the deleted material.
Investigators are also searching for Ketan Agarwal's passport, which Siya Goyal allegedly removed from his bag while they were travelling from Pune to Mumbai for a pre-wedding photoshoot in Bali. Police alleged that Siya tore and burnt the passport during a stop at a food mall to prevent Ketan from travelling.
Investigators suspect the passport was discarded near a food mall in Khalapur near Panvel. According to the driver's statement, Siya returned alone to the parked vehicle, saying her mobile phone was untraceable, and later tore Ketan's passport before throwing it into a women's washroom. The driver also told police that Siya wanted to cancel the Bali trip, but her brother insisted they continue as the tickets and hotel had already been booked. A police team will visit the spot to search for the passport.
Police alleged that Chetan travelled to Lohagad Fort on a scooter instead of a car to avoid leaving electronic records at toll plazas.
Ketan's death was initially treated as an accidental fall into a 400-foot gorge. However, police later registered a murder case after forensic findings and questioning of the accused. Investigators alleged that Siya and Chetan were in a relationship and viewed Ketan as an obstacle.
According to investigators, the accused exchanged more than 2,400 phone calls over six months, totalling nearly 238 hours of conversation. Some calls lasted two to three hours. Police suspect these conversations were part of the alleged conspiracy. Investigators also alleged that Siya visited Lohagad Fort four times in 12 days before Ketan's death to study the location.