Ritesh Hange, a friend of Chetan Chaudhary, was allegedly involved in planning the murder committed at the Lohagad Fort on June 18, when victim Ketan Agarwal was on a trekking trip with fiancée Siya Goyal.
After the two prime accused, Siya Goyal and her boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary, a third person has now been arrested for the murder of the woman’s fiancé, Ketan Agarwal in Pune, police said on Saturday. The man, arrested on Friday, is Ritesh Hange, a friend of Chetan Chaudhary who was allegedly involved in planning the murder of the real estate businessman at Lohagad Fort on June 18, when Agarwal was on a trekking trip with Siya Goyal.
“During the investigation, it came to light that Ritesh was involved in the planning of Ketan Agarwal’s murder,” Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill said. “He was aware of the earlier plan of Goyal and Chaudhary to injure Ketan by breaking his hands and legs and subsequently eliminate him. After allegedly executing the murder at Lohagad fort on June 18, Chetan contacted Ritesh and informed him about it,” another officer said, reported news agency PTI.
Ritesh Hange’s alleged involvement in the murder came to light after a forensic analysis of a mobile phone recovered by the police. He was produced before the Vadgaon Maval Sessions Court that remanded him to police custody until September 12.
The police claim to have found chats from the mobile phone discussing how Ketan could be pushed from Lohagad Fort and how evidence of the crime could be destroyed. Hange, who is originally from Beed, is currently being questioned.
The police allege that Goyal and Chaudhary planned to eliminate Agarwal as he was becoming an obstacle in their relationship.
Initially, police treated it as an accident and registered a case of accidental death. But Ketan Agarwal’s sister continued to doubt and dissect the accident narrative even after his funeral. Sources told NDTV that four days after the incident, Siya Goyal visited the Agarwal family home to offer condolences. During the visit, Ketan’s sister questioned her in detail about what happened at Lohagad.
Ketan Agarwal and Siya Goyal had gone trekking to Lohagad Fort on three occasions: May 31, June 14, and finally on June 18. Inconsistencies in Siya Goyal’s replies and her evasiveness deepened the sister’s suspicion. She then shared her doubts with the family, after which they approached the police and sought a fresh probe.
Initially, Siya Goyal told the police that Ketan slipped and fell into the gorge while posing for photos. But police found that Siya Goyal and Chetan pushed Ketan Agarwal to his death and tried to pass it off as an accident. They were arrested on June 23. A probe was launched into whether anyone else was involved in the conspiracy. The latest arrest comes in that trail.
Before making any arrests, police examined CCTV footage, technical evidence, and questioned some after the victim’s family insisted. That’s when police learned about an affair between Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary. CCTV cameras from the area showed a man wearing a hoodie, despite the June heat, following Ketan and Siya’s vehicle and movements around the fort. The unusual attire drew investigators’ attention, eventually helping them identify and track Chetan.
Police subsequently discovered that Siya and Chetan had been in contact for three years and had spoken over 2,000 times between January and June, clocking a cumulative 238 hours on calls. That was besides their conversations on FaceTime and WhatsApp.
The probe also found that Ketan and Siya were set to fly to Bali, Indonesia, for a pre-wedding photoshoot, but had to change plans when the man realised his passport was missing upon arriving at Mumbai airport. His father, Vishal Agarwal, hinted at sabotage.
