PUNE: The plan to kill realtor Ketan Agarwal at Lohagad Fort in Pune district allegedly took shape after his fiancé Siya Goyal and her alleged lover Chetan Chaudhary studied online reports about the death of a young woman at the same location in 2025, according to the chargesheet filed by Pune Rural police before the Wadgaon Maval court.Agarwal, 26, died on June 18. The death was initially believed to be an accidental fall from Lohagad Fort, but the subsequent investigation found that he had allegedly been pushed.The 5,053-page chargesheet, filed on September 19, names Goyal, Chaudhary and Ritesh Hange as accused in the murder case. It cites mobile phone data, call detail records, social media material, messages, photographs, witness statements and technical analysis certificates as evidence.
Fiancée allegedly did not want to marry Agarwal
According to the chargesheet, Goyal did not want to marry Agarwal, with whom she got engaged on February 19 this year.Police allege that she subsequently conspired with Chaudhary and Hange to eliminate Agarwal and make his death appear to be an accident.The chargesheet says Goyal and Chaudhary searched Google, YouTube and social media platforms for information about deaths, trekking incidents and ways of concealing evidence.
From ‘Sonam Case’ to deleting phone data
Police have claimed that the accused also searched for information about the Meghalaya honeymoon murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, along with ways to delete phone and online data.Among the searches cited in the chargesheet were terms such as “Death Cap Mushroom India”, “Women Kills Family by Mushroom”, “Easy way to kill someone”, “Sonam Case”, “Lohagad Fort”, “How to format iPhone – No history on calls”, “How to Delete Google Account”, “Trekking Incident” and “How not to get manipulated”.
The Mansi Govindpurkar case
A key part of the alleged planning involved the death of Mansi Govindpurkar, a 21-year-old woman from Sangvi who went missing on March 18, 2025 after leaving home saying she was going to college.Her last mobile location was traced to Lohagad. CCTV footage showed her arriving alone in a taxi and entering the fort. A search operation involving police and the Shivdurg rescue team found her body two days later in bushes near the foothills of Lohagad, close to the Navgraha temple area.Police had initially examined whether she had fallen from the fort or died due to another cause. Later reports attributed her death to suicide, allegedly linked to distress over health problems and her inability to appear for her LLB third-year examination.
Facebook post allegedly led Goyal to Lohagad
The chargesheet focuses on how information about Govindpurkar’s death allegedly reached the accused.According to the prosecution, Goyal came across information about Govindpurkar’s death on Facebook and later discussed the Lohagad location with Chaudhary.The two allegedly decided that Agarwal could be pushed from the fort, making his death appear to be an accidental fall. Police said the information about the location was also shared with Hange.Police allege that the accused then carried out further searches relating to Lohagad, trekking incidents and deaths involving falls in the Lonavala region.Investigators have submitted the digital material recovered during the probe to the court as part of the chargesheet.
Contract killer plan allegedly came first
The chargesheet also says the accused had explored other ways of eliminating Agarwal before settling on the Lohagad plan.According to police, they had allegedly attempted to arrange a contract killer but eventually decided to carry out the murder themselves.(With inputs from PTI)
