Digital Evidence and Conspiracy in Ketan Agarwal's Murder Investigation

Forensic examination of the phones found on the accused in Ketan Agarwal’s murder is turning up something really important, investigators think. It’s digital evidence .

A phone call made by Siya Goyal one of the prime accused to her alleged lover and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary just thirty-four minutes before Ketan was pushed off that cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune. That call is now under intense scrutiny, NDTV reported, citing sources close to the probe.

The Call Detail Records, or CDRs , brought this up. It’s being treated by the police as the final signal. The go-ahead before the alleged murder actually happened.

The analysis of both accused’s handsets led them right there. That single call is now a key piece in what they are trying to prove about the whole conspiracy .

Police are theorizing that Goyal used that call to pinpoint exactly where she was on the fort, a specific viewpoint. Then, allegedly telling Chaudhary there were no tourists nearby making it perfect for their plan. A bit of staging, maybe?

Separately, ANI mentioned something else Pune Rural Police found. They allege Goyal gave some kind of pre-arranged visual signal to Chaudhary right before the incident itself.

Investigators are looking at how they got there too. It’s not just about the call. There’s a whole sequence being pieced together. Goyal reportedly sat down on the ground, pretending she was just drinking water. This move, police believe, kept her out of Ketan’s reach when he went over the edge. They suspect this setup was deliberate so he couldn't grab onto her to try and save himself. It had to be planned carefully.

The whole picture suggests planning. Goyal and Chaudhary allegedly finalized this plan during a meeting at some cafe in Lullanagar, Pune, the day before everything went wrong. CCTV footage recovered from that area seems to back up that claim. They’re also looking into whether they rehearsed this exact scenario beforehand. Where exactly did those rehearsals happen? That's another thing they are chasing now.

The digital trail is messy too. Investigators suspect Goyal deleted things WhatsApp chats, Instagram conversations, voice notes. Nearly three months of communication vanished in an attempt to wipe away the evidence of this murder plot. The cyber wing is now digging into that missing data with forensic experts. They’re cross-checking those recovered conversations against location logs and IP addresses from around that final phone call time.

Chetan Chaudhary’s movements are also being examined. He allegedly shut off his mobile internet around seven in the morning, trying to erase any digital location trail. Then he left his personal phone at work, asking employees to handle calls. They think he borrowed someone else's phone for communications while making the trip to Lohagad Fort.

And then there’s Chaudhary himself. He followed Ketan and Siya up to the fort on June 18th. Funny thing: reports suggest he was wearing a thick winter hoodie, even though it was hot out there. That detail caught investigators' attention later when they reviewed the CCTV footage of him.

When they got to a secluded spot near the Vinchu Kata ridge, Siya allegedly sat down. Investigators think that was a signal for Chaudhary before Ketan was pushed into the gorge. He went completely offline for almost ten hours after that, only reconnecting late in the evening. That prolonged silence just made things look suspicious as they looked at his movements.

There’s more history here, too. The motive seems tangled up with relationships. Goyal was engaged to Ketan back in February, scheduled to marry him later this year. But she wasn't keen on moving forward. She had been involved with Chaudhary since October last year. Sources suggest the whole alleged conspiracy might have been about stalling that marriage. Some sources even whispered they wanted "three years of freedom" before committing.

It gets darker when you look at earlier attempts. The police found evidence suggesting an earlier attempt to kill Ketan, back on June 14th. He survived that one time by grabbing onto some bush. After that incident, Goyal allegedly claimed she pushed him off because of a snake bite. That story doesn't sit right with the current narrative.

Chaudhary apparently decided to follow them again on June 18th, trying to make sure Ketan didn’t escape this time. The arrests happened on June 23rd, and they were held in custody until June 29th.

The government stepped in too. They fast-tracked the court setup because the victim's family wanted a speedy trial. Ujjwal Nikam, a Rajya Sabha MP, was appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor. Things are moving, but it’s still raw.