Lohagad Fort Murder: Eyewitness Says Accused Threatened to Push Them Off Cliff

An eyewitness to the alleged murder of a 25-year-old man at Lohagad Fort in Pune has told investigators that one of the accused threatened to push them off the cliff as well if they revealed what they had seen.

The witness, whose identity has not been disclosed, came forward five days after Ketan Agarwal fell into a gorge at the fort on June 18. According to the statement, the witness recognised the accused after seeing media reports and then contacted the police.

In the account given to the police, the witness said Siya Goyal gestured towards Chetan Chaudhary, who kicked Agarwal on the leg, causing him to fall into the gorge. The witness was then allegedly warned by Chaudhary to keep quiet or face the same fate.

The statement also notes a detail that made the accused easy to recall: despite the intense heat that day, Chaudhary was wearing a hoodie. Another trekker had reportedly asked him why he was dressed that way while climbing the fort.

Police are now cross-checking the witness's account against other evidence gathered in the case.

Technical evidence examined

Investigators have collected a large volume of technical material, including 12 TB of data, six mobile phones, nine pen drives, backups and call records. Forensic analysis of social media activity and deleted chats is under way, and some of the deleted data has been recovered.

The probe has also found that searches were made on how to permanently erase data and chats from an iPhone. It has further emerged that Goyal destroyed a second mobile phone, which she had kept hidden at home. Police sources said important evidence was retrieved from the backup of the broken phone.

Officers are piecing together the sequence of events by correlating the technical evidence, call records, social media chats and the eyewitness statement.

Three arrests so far

Three people have been arrested in connection with the death: Goyal, Chaudhary and Chaudhary's friend Ritesh Hange, who is alleged to have been involved in planning the killing.

Agarwal and Goyal were to marry in November. The two had gone trekking to Lohagad Fort on June 18 when the incident took place. At 10:45 am, Goyal called Agarwal's mother and said he had accidentally fallen into a gorge. Locals and police found him there and took him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

A case of accidental death was registered initially. Agarwal's sister, however, continued to doubt Goyal's account and questioned her, after which a fresh investigation was launched. The couple had also trekked to Lohagad Fort on May 31 and June 14.