A cricket angle has emerged in the sensational Pune fort murder case as the probe dives deeper into the relationship between Siya Goyal and her alleged lover and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary.
Goyal is accused of pushing her fiance, Ketan Agarwal, to his death from a cliff at Lohagad Fort on June 18, as part of a joint conspiracy that she allegedly hatched with Chaudhary.
Her brother Sahil Goyal, who was questioned for over 10 hours yesterday, has revealed that he knew about Chaudhary – while his parents had earlier said they were not aware of him.
Read: Cops Throw Dummy Off Fort To Recreate Murder, Establish Siya Goyal’s Role
Sahil Goyal told the police that her sister used to attend his cricket matches and that is where he first met Chaudhary. Later, they met again at a Diwali party hosted by a common friend last year, following which they grew closer, according to police.
The call detail records between the two indicate that they have had over 2,000 phone conversations since January, sources pointed out, noting that the total duration of these calls is estimated to be around 238 hours.
Sahil Goyal also told the police that his family would have called off the marriage if her sister wasn’t okay with it. Her mother, Pooja Goyal, had said her daughter never expressed dissatisfaction and that she had never seen or spoken to Chaudhary.
Siya Goyal’s lawyer, however, said she and Chaudhary were “friends”.
“Sahil knew Chetan Chaudhary, and we cross-checked certain things with him,” news agency PTI cited an official as saying. The police are also preparing to record statements from Siya Goyal’s other relatives as part of their probe into Agarwal’s death.
The investigation has revealed that both accused, Siya Goyal and Chetan Choudhary, had deleted their WhatsApp chats, Instagram conversations, and other digital records from their mobile phones. The deleted data is now undergoing forensic analysis to retrieve the full record of their conversations.
The probe has also found that Goyal and Chaudhary had met for about an hour at a cafe in Lullanagar in Pune on June 17, the day before Agarwal’s alleged murder.
Read: Siya Goyal, Lover Wiped Chats, Deleted Folder To Destroy Evidence: Cops
The police are now investigating whether they planned the murder during this meeting or had any other discussion related to it.
Agarwal and Goyal were scheduled to tie the knot in November. The police allege that Goyal took Agarwal to a cliff at the Lohagad Fort on June 18 and pushed him off a cliff with Chaudhary’s help, as she didn’t want to go ahead with the wedding.
“The roles of both Siya and Chetan have been established in the alleged murder of Ketan,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Lonavala division) Gajanan Tonp.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called the incident “shocking” and assured full support to the victim’s father.