Siya Goyal took Ketan Agrawal to Lohagad Fort four days before the murder, but attempt to push him down failed: Family

Following the arrest of Siya Goyal and her alleged lover, Chetan Babulal Chaudhary, for the murder of Pune-based businessman Ketan Agrawal, the victim’s family has revealed that there was an attempt on his life four days before he was killed on June 18, at the same location. According to the victim’s father, Vishal Agarwal, on June 14, Siya took Ketan to the Lohagad Fort near Pune and tried to push him down.

Claimed ‘snake’ after failed attempt

But Ketan managed to save himself by holding onto nearby bushes, and Siya attempted to cover her tracks by claiming there was a snake and that she was trying to protect him. Days later, Siya convinced Ketan to accompany her to Lohagad Fort again to celebrate her birthday.

This time around, Siya had a backup, her alleged lover, Chetan, who had reached Lohagad Fort before the couple and followed them to the isolated spot from where the 26-year-old was pushed down to a 400-foot deep gorge. According to the police, the exact sequence of events is still being investigated, but they believe that Chetan struck Ketan with a hard object before he was pushed to his death.

The incident was initially ruled out as a case of accidental death, and Siya has told the police and the victim’s family that Ketan slipped while posing for a photo.

“On June 14, Siya and Ketan had gone to the same spot at Lohagad Fort, from where he was later pushed. At the time, he managed to save himself by holding on to nearby bushes. When Ketan realised he had been pushed, Siya raised a false alarm about a snake and claimed she had pushed him only to protect him. Looking back, I believe there was an attempt to kill Ketan even on June 14,” the victim’s father said.

Siya hid Ketan’s passport to cancel Bali trip

He also revealed that Siya had sabotaged their planned Bali trip on June 6, allegedly by hiding Ketan’s passport. According to Agrawal, Ketan and Siya, along with two other relatives, were set to travel from Mumbai to Bali.

“At a food mall in Lonavala, Siya returned to the car on the pretext of fetching her phone. When they later reached the airport, Ketan’s passport was missing from the pouch, forcing them to cancel the trip,” Agarwal claimed.

Siya’s family was aware: Agarwal

He further said he suspected the Goyal family was aware of the conspiracy from the beginning and may have played a role in it.

Agarwal also claimed that the Goyal family had approached them with a marriage proposal and insisted that Siya and Ketan make a good match.

How the murder plot was unraveled

Police began probing the death following Agarwal’s complaint and found several discrepancies in Siya’s statements.

“It seemed unlikely for such an accident to occur spontaneously, especially given that Ketan was an experienced trekker,” Pune Rural Police SP Sandeep Singh Gill said.

Police looked into several angles, including financial motives and business rivalry, before uncovering the sinister plan hatched by Siya and her lover. According to the police, both Siya and Chetan come from business families and had been in a relationship for nearly a year. The investigation showed that Siya was unwilling to marry Ketan and considered him an obstacle to her relationship with Chetan.

“Our teams examined multiple angles, including financial disputes and personal relationships. During the probe, police found that Siya was in a relationship with Chaudhary, a resident of Kondhwa in Pune,” Gill said.