Ketan Agarwal murder: Police reveal minute-by-minute conspiracy timeline

Mumbai: Police have pieced together what they believe is a meticulously planned murder plot in the death of Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal, with investigators alleging that Chetan Chaudhary and his alleged lover, Siya Goyal, conspired to kill him to prevent her arranged marriage.

According to people with direct knowledge of the investigation, the pair carefully orchestrated the crime at Lohagad Fort before attempting to disguise it as a tragic accident.

Alleged timeline of the conspiracy

7.00 am: Digital blackout begins

Investigators allege that Chetan switched off his mobile data to prevent cell towers from recording his movements and creating a digital trail to the crime scene.

8.00 am: Alibi put in place

Police claim Chetan left his personal mobile phone at his shop and instructed employees to answer any incoming calls, creating the impression that he had remained at work throughout the day.

Midday: Travelling off the digital grid

According to investigators, Chetan travelled towards Lohagad Fort without using his own phone, instead borrowing an employee's handset whenever communication was necessary.

2.00 pm: CCTV captures suspect

Police say Chetan followed Ketan and Siya along the fort trail while wearing a thick winter hoodie despite temperatures of around 33 degrees Celsius. Investigators believe the clothing was intended to conceal his identity but instead made him stand out on CCTV footage.

2.30 pm: Alleged signal before the attack

Investigators allege that after the trio reached a secluded cliff near the Vinchu Kata ridge, Siya sat down as a pre-arranged signal. Chetan then allegedly emerged from hiding and pushed Ketan around 400 feet into the gorge, killing him.

5.40 pm: Internet switched back on

After remaining offline for 10 hours and 40 minutes, Chetan allegedly reactivated his mobile internet, believing he had successfully concealed his movements.

Alleged alibi unravels

According to investigators, the plan began to fall apart when police noticed the unusually long period during which Chetan's phone remained offline. CCTV footage allegedly showed him wearing the distinctive winter hoodie, while callers confirmed that someone else had been answering his phone during the day.

The events leading up to the death

Police said Ketan left home on the morning of June 18 before picking up his fiancée, Siya Goyal, from Kiwale Bridge on the Pune-Mumbai Highway. The couple then travelled to Lohagad Fort.

At 10.45 am, Siya allegedly telephoned Ketan's mother, claiming that he had accidentally fallen into a gorge. Local residents and police later recovered him from the ravine and took him to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Family questioned accident theory

Three days later, on June 21, Ketan's father, Vishal Devichand Agarwal, visited the site with relatives and friends Navdeep Jindal and Tarun Mittal. According to the FIR, the family concluded that the terrain made an accidental fall highly unlikely.

The complaint further alleges that Siya's phone was frequently engaged after the incident and that she often referred to a man named Chetan as her "friend", prompting the family to suspect the two were in a romantic relationship.

Based on these allegations, Ketan's father accused Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary of conspiring to murder his son and staging the incident as an accident.