Chetan Chaudhary, along with his alleged lover Siya Goyal, is accused of meticulously planning the murder of Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal to get rid of an arranged marriage that had become an obstacle to their relationship, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The FIR filed by Ketan's father, Vishal Devichand Agarwal, alleges that Siya and Chetan pushed Ketan off a cliff at Lohagad Fort, killing him.
The complaint also states that Siya had become upset after a planned trip to the fort on June 4 was cancelled and repeatedly pressured Ketan to take her there.
Investigators have now pieced together what they believe was the sequence of events on the day of the alleged murder.
7:00 am: Digital blackout
According to sources, Chetan switched off his mobile data early in the morning to avoid leaving a location trail through cell tower records.
8:00 am: Creating an alibi
He allegedly left his personal phone at his shop and instructed his employees to answer any incoming calls, creating the impression that he had never left the premises.
Midday: Secret journey
While travelling towards Lohagad Fort, Chetan allegedly borrowed an employee's phone whenever he needed to make calls, avoiding the use of his own device.
2:00 pm: Hoodie caught on camera
Investigators claim Chetan followed the couple up the trekking route while wearing a thick winter hoodie despite the summer temperature of around 33 degrees Celsius, allegedly to conceal his identity from CCTV cameras.
2:30 pm: The alleged signal
According to investigators, after reaching a secluded cliff near the Vinchu Kata ridge, Siya allegedly sat down as a pre-decided signal. Chetan then allegedly emerged from hiding and pushed Ketan nearly 400 feet into the gorge.
5:40 pm: Back online
After remaining digitally invisible for nearly 10 hours and 40 minutes, Chetan allegedly switched his internet back on, believing his movements could not be traced.
The plan allegedly backfires
Investigators reportedly found the long period during which his phone remained offline suspicious. They also traced a person matching his distinctive winter hoodie on CCTV footage and found that calls to his phone during that period had been answered by someone else.
According to the FIR, Ketan left home on the morning of June 18 and picked up Siya from Kiwale Bridge on the Pune-Mumbai highway before driving to Lohagad Fort.
At around 10:45 am, Siya called Ketan's mother and claimed that he had accidentally fallen into a gorge. Locals and police later recovered him and shifted him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
On June 21, Ketan's father and relatives visited the spot and concluded that an accidental fall from that location was highly unlikely. His friends, Navdeep Jindal and Tarun Mittal, also inspected the site with the family.
The family further alleged that Siya's phone was frequently busy and that she often spoke about her "friend" Chetan, leading them to suspect that the two were involved in a romantic relationship.
