Fiancée and lover executed planned murder at Lohagad Fort
Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal's fiancée Siya Goyal allegedly gave a pre-decided signal before her lover Chetan Chaudhary pushed him to his death from Lohagad Fort on June 18, a police official said on Thursday. The duo decided to kill Agarwal instead of eloping because they feared that elopement would bring disrepute to their families, police said.
Both initially blamed each other, later confessed
"Initially, both tried to shift the blame onto each other. However, Siya eventually admitted that she hatched the conspiracy and Chetan was also involved in the planning," said a police official who is part of the probe. Chaudhary (22) initially claimed that he was present at the fort but did not go to the spot where Agarwal (25) was pushed off the cliff and did not know exactly what happened, the official said. "However, it was evident that he was lying," he said, adding that both finally admitted to their roles and narrated the entire sequence of events.
Pre-arranged signal and execution
As per the plan, Goyal (20) was to give a signal by sitting down, following which Chaudhary was to come up and push an unsuspecting Agarwal to his death. They executed the plan exactly, the official said. "They have told us what happened and how it happened. Ketan had no idea what was coming. He was pushed into the gorge before he realised anything," the official said.
Why they didn't elope
Police also asked the duo why they did not elope instead of murdering an innocent person. "They said eloping would have brought disrepute to their families," the official said. Police had earlier said that the accused had taken Agarwal to Lohagad Fort twice and tried to kill him, but the plan failed each time.
Background of the case
Ketan Agrawal and Siya Goyal were scheduled to get married in November at a palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan, but Goyal did not want to marry him. Speaking to reporters, Goyal's father sought the harshest possible punishment for the accused, stating that anyone responsible for the crime, even if it is his own daughter, should be hurled down from the fort the same way Agarwal was pushed to his death. "Ketan was like a son to me, and the loss had shattered both our families. We were eagerly preparing for the wedding," he added. "Whatever has happened is deeply tragic. Even today we cannot bring ourselves to believe it," he said.
Family denies prior knowledge
Goyal's father also denied the allegation levelled by Agarwal's father that the girl's family concealed certain facts from them. They had no inkling of any trouble in the relationship or his daughter's affair with a third person, he said. Siya was a "simple girl" who always appeared happy about her upcoming wedding, her father said.
