MUMBAI: The story of the Lohagad Fort murder case will surprise any crime thriller writer.
Siya and her boyfriend, Chetan, meticulously planned every detail to kill Ketan and get married after a three-year cooling period. However, in an anti-climactic turn, loopholes in their plans landed them both in jail.
After getting engaged to the 25-year-old Ketan Agarwal, a Pune-based developer, the 20-year-old Siya Goyal wanted to continue her relationship with her 22-year-old boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary and get married to him eventually once he settled in his cricket career and business.
Meanwhile, a Pune court on Monday extended the police custody of Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary until July 3 to allow further investigations and to ascertain how the murder of Ketan Agarwal was carried out.
Pune police sought more time to carry out a further probe in the case. Police said in their probe, the conspiracy was established, but they need more time to determine and prove that Ketan’s murder took place at Lohagad Fort by Siya.
According to the police, the Class 12th failed Siya and Chetan had worked out a three-year plan: use Ketan’s resources to settle Chetan’s business and career, then eliminate Ketan by removing all traces of digital history, and later get married once everything is forgotten.
“As per the plan, Siya pretended that she was happy with the engagement with Ketan. They both planned the extravagant destination wedding in Rajasthan with a budget of Rs 17 crore. Siya then persuaded Ketan to give her Rs 1 crore for buying ornaments, clothes and other things. Siya used that Rs 1 crore not for her marriage shopping, but handed it over to Chetan for investment in his business,” said police.
According to investigators, the duo visited Udaipur in February, shortly before Siya’s engagement ceremony with Ketan. Police sources said the trip lasted around five days and took place with a group of friends.
Siya and Ketan’s marriage dates were finalised; that was approaching closer, which resulted in Chetan getting perturbed, so he asked Siya to advance the marriage for a year so that they could come up with a plan to eliminate Ketan. Siya promised him that she would do something on her own and asked him not to be involved in the elimination plan.
As per the plan, Siya and Ketan made the Lohagad Fort trip twice; both times, she tried to kill Ketan, but something or other happened, and her plan got foiled. She failed in her first attempt as she developed cold feet.
‘When the duo met again, Chetan pleaded to be a part of the crime, but Siya promised that in the second attempt, she would not hesitate to execute the plan. As per the plan, both Siya and Ketan went trekking again at Lohagad Fort, where Siya tried to push Ketan down, but Ketan got hold of the tree branch and saved himself.
A surprised Ketan was convinced that she was trying to save him from a venomous snake, and Ketan trusted her,” said a police officer who has been a part of the ongoing investigation into the high-profile case.
