Siya Goyal Had Ketan's Phone After His Death, Handed It To His Family; Police Probe If Data Was Erased

Last Updated:July 02, 2026, 10:48 IST

Investigators will send Ketan Agarwal's mobile phone for forensic analysis as they probe whether vital evidence was deleted while it was allegedly in Siya Goyal's possession.

The investigation into the murder of Pune-based real estate businessman Ketan Agarwal has taken a fresh turn after police began examining whether crucial digital evidence may have been erased from the victim’s mobile phone, which remained in the possession of his fiancée and prime accused, Siya Goyal, for some time after the incident.

According to police sources, Siya handed over Ketan’s mobile phone to his family members only after they reached Lohagad Fort following the incident.

Investigators are now probing how she came to possess Ketan’s phone after he allegedly fell from the cliff and whether any data was deleted before it was returned to the family.

Police suspect the device may have contained crucial evidence linked to the case, including phone calls, messages, chats and other digital records that could help establish the sequence of events leading to Ketan’s death.

Investigators fear that some of this information may have been deleted while the phone was in Siya’s possession.

The handset will now be sent for forensic examination to determine whether any data was tampered with or erased and if deleted information can be recovered.

Police are also trying to establish the exact timeline of when Ketan’s phone came into Siya’s possession and how long it remained with her before it was handed over to his relatives.

The latest development comes as Pune Rural Police continue to widen the scope of their investigation into the alleged murder.

Meanwhile, investigators on Wednesday recreated the crime scene at Lohagad Fort in Maharashtra as part of the ongoing probe.

During the exercise, police used a fibre dummy matching Ketan’s height and weight and dropped it into a gorge more than 300 feet deep to reconstruct how the incident allegedly unfolded.

Speaking to IANS, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Lonavala Division) Gajanan Tompe said, “Today, we took the accused to Lohagad and carried out a crime scene reconstruction this morning. The procedure was conducted as per the actual crime scene details. The investigation is still ongoing. We will place all necessary information before the court as required and continue the investigation accordingly."

“We are recording statements of all those who are connected with the case and will continue to do so," he added.

According to ANI, police also took co-accused Chetan Chaudhary to Lohagad Fort for a separate reconstruction exercise.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Shubham Kumar, said investigators recreated the sequence of events based on Chetan’s account.

“We took Chetan Chaudhary for the scene reconstruction, and he told us about the sequence of events of that day. Investigation is underway. The dummy was designed according to the weight of Ketan," Kumar said.

The reconstruction exercise was also aimed at verifying the incident through forensic gait analysis.

Police had earlier conducted a similar reconstruction with the prime accused, Siya Goyal, while a separate gait analysis of Chetan Chaudhary was carried out on Tuesday.

The fort was temporarily shut to visitors during the investigation, with tourists evacuated from the premises to facilitate forensic procedures.

Siya Goyal and her lover, Chetan Babulal Chaudhary, are accused of murdering 26-year-old Ketan Agarwal at Lohagad Fort on June 18.

Police suspect Siya was unwilling to marry Ketan and was allegedly under family pressure to go ahead with the wedding.

On Monday, the Vadgaon Maval court extended the police custody of Siya and Chetan by five more days after investigators informed the court that several aspects of the probe remained incomplete.

Police told the court they needed to recreate the crime scene with both accused, trace Chetan’s movements after the incident, examine phone conversations exchanged following the alleged murder and recover evidence linked to the destruction of Ketan’s passport.

Investigators have alleged that Siya stole Ketan’s passport during a stop at a food mall while they were travelling to Mumbai airport for a planned pre-wedding trip to Bali before allegedly tearing and burning the document.

Ketan Agarwal died after falling from Lohagad Fort on June 18.

Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were arrested on June 23 and remain in police custody till July 3 as the investigation continues.

The Maharashtra government has approved the setting up of a fast-track court for the case and appointed senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Ujjwal Nikam as the Special Public Prosecutor.

About the Author

Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has more than 10 years of experience in national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

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