A Pune court on Friday sent Siya Goyal and her alleged lover Chetan Chaudhary, the accused in the purported murder of Ketan Agarwal, to 14 days of judicial custody. According to sources, investigators had sought additional police custody for three days, saying that a face-to-face interrogation of both the accused needs to be conducted.
They also told the court that several chats and other digital evidence related to the case are yet to be recovered and examined. However, the Vadgaon court remanded the duo to judicial custody after their police custody ended on Thursday. Earlier, the court had granted the police seven days of custody, which was subsequently extended by four more days to enable investigators to question the accused on 18 key aspects of the case.
As a result, both Siya and Chetan have undergone intensive interrogation for a total of 11 days. Pune Rural Police have also moved the court seeking permission to conduct polygraph tests on both the accused. Officials said the court will first issue notices and record the consent of the accused before deciding on the request.
Meanwhile, police sources said that a new suspect has emerged in the murder investigation of the 26-year-old Pune businessman who was allegedly pushed off the cliff at Lohagad Fort near Pune by his fiancee Siya and Chaudhary. According to the investigation, police have identified another young man who was a classmate of Chaudhary.
Investigators claim that the youth was aware of the alleged conspiracy to kill Ketan before the murder took place. Siya and Chaudhary had reportedly discussed the murder plan with him. Authorities are now examining his role in the case and are expected to make further findings as the investigation progresses.
As part of the investigation, the police on Thursday took Siya to her residence, where they seized clothes suspected to have been worn during the commission of the crime, a mobile phone, and other documents considered relevant to the investigation.
She was later taken to a cafe in Pune's Lullanagar area, where investigators believe the conspiracy to murder Ketan Agarwal was allegedly hatched. Police recorded her statement at the location and carried out an inspection to verify electronic and other evidence linked to the case.