New Delhi:
The father of the accused in the Pune fort murder case has defended his son, saying he is being “falsely framed” by the co-accused. Babulal Chaudhary, the father of 22-year-old Chetan Chaudhary, claimed that Siya Goyal is trying to frame his son to save herself.
Siya, 20, and her lover, Chetan, allegedly pushed her 26-year-old fiance, Ketan Agarwal, into a gorge from the Lohagad Fort near Pune on June 18. Siya and Ketan, both from Pune, got engaged in February and were scheduled to get married in a grand ceremony in Jaipur in November.
After the incident, she told his family that he had slipped during the trek. However, the police investigation into the case later unravelled the alleged conspiracy behind the murder, and both were arrested on June 23.
Chetan Chaudhary
“We have never seen the girl in question and know absolutely nothing about her. In fact, I only found out about her name, Siya, yesterday… I have never seen her before. I saw her for the first time at the police station,” Babulal Chaudhary, a grocery shop owner, told reporters on Wednesday.
He said when he met Chetan at the police station, he told them that he was “standing way far” from Siya and Ketan when the incident took place.
ALSO READ | ‘Could’ve Called Off Wedding, Why Kill Him?’ Pune Fort Murder Victim’s Father
“We do not know why Chetan was present at the spot at Lohgad Fort on that day. He did not tell us why he went there,” Chaudhary said.
“My son is not like that… He is not involved in the case,” he said, adding that he did not know whether his son and Goyal were having an affair.
#WATCH | Pune, Maharashtra: On the death of Ketan Vishal Agarwal, Babulal Chowdhury (father of accused Chetan Chowdhury) says, “…He did not inform me beforehand. He only mentioned that he had a meeting and was heading there. He had told his mother that in the morning, and he… pic.twitter.com/N7hSHWCIsO
— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2026
He said that Chetan is “innocent” and used to always come to the grocery shop to work.
Chetan’s uncle, Udayram Chaudhary, also said that he is “completely innocent”.
“Chetan is a sportsman and a very straightforward person… There has never been a single complaint against him from anyone in the market. Our family members do not know anything about Chetan’s relationship with that girl; we had absolutely no idea. We even got a chance to meet him for a minute, and he told us while crying that he was being falsely implicated in this,” he told the news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Pune, Maharashtra: On the death of Ketan Vishal Agarwal, Udayram Chowdhury (uncle of accused Chetan Chowdhury) says, “Chetan is completely innocent in this matter. The media is hyping this up and showing a one-sided view on Instagram, but Chetan is not involved in it.… pic.twitter.com/urO2X1ZxeM
— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2026
Chetan’s lawyer, Ram Shahane, said his client had been implicated in the case.
“The FIR does not specifically describe his role in the alleged offence. It merely states that he is the boyfriend of the main accused, and on that basis, he has been implicated in the case. We raised the same pleading during the first remand, at the time of his first production before the court,” he said.
Siya Goyal’s Failed Attempts Before Ketan Agarwal’s Murder
Siya Goyal had repeatedly persuaded Ketan Agarwal, a director and chief marketing officer of a family-run real estate business, to visit the Lohagad Fort, located at about 3,300 feet from sea level in the Sahyadri range, on multiple occasions.
They had gone to Lohagad on May 31, and she had again insisted that they visit the fort four days later. Ketan’s mother, however, did not allow him to go there a second time.
Siya had once again planned a visit on June 14, and he agreed. On that day, she allegedly tried to push Ketan off the cliff. He, however, managed to hold on to a tree and survived. When he asked why he had been pushed, she said she saw a snake and tried to make it appear that she had protected him.
On the morning of June 18, Siya and Chetan allegedly met at a cafe in Pune and planned Ketan’s murder, the police said.
#NDTVAtGroundZero | NDTV’s @sujata_dwivedi reports from Lohagad Fort, from where Ketan Agarwal was pushed by his fiance Siya Goyal – Here are the details @divyawadhwa pic.twitter.com/6baa2avWSj
— NDTV (@ndtv) June 24, 2026
“During the meeting, the two allegedly identified a suitable spot on the fort from where Agarwal could be pushed into the valley and worked out the details of the execution of the plan,” Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.
How Chetan Chaudhary Was Caught
While examining the CCTV footage, the police noticed Chetan, who was wearing shorts and a hoodie, tailing Ketan and Siya on the trek to the fort. He was also wearing a headset over the hoodie. He was also seen communicating with Siya using hand gestures.
In other footage, she suddenly looked back at him, and he immediately sat down.
The police also checked the temperature of that particular time on June 18 and found out that it was 33 degrees Celsius and wondered why anyone would wear a hoodie in such heat.
“The technical analysis established a close connection between the duo and pointed towards a well-thought-out conspiracy. We then examined photographs and social media profiles linked to Chaudhary. A comparison of those images with CCTV footage from the fort showing a hooded individual in the area helped police narrow their focus on him,” a police officer was quoted as saying by PTI.
“During interrogation, we connected all the dots, which revealed a premeditated conspiracy involving Siya and Chetan,” he said.
Siya and Chetan, who allegedly met at a party during Diwali last year, had remained in constant touch for nearly six months, exchanging over 2,000 calls and spending about 238 hours on the phone.
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