Pune Police Recreate Lohagad Fort Murder Scene Using Fibre Dummy
Crime reconstruction aims to verify accused's account in Pune realtor's murder case.
Mumbai: Nearly 10 days after the crime, the Maharashtra Police on Sunday recreated the sequence of events at Lohagad Fort in the alleged murder of 26-year-old Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, who allegedly pushed off a cliff by his fiancée and her alleged lover. The police reportedly used a fibre-made dummy to reconstruct the crime scene.
The reconstruction was carried out in the presence of one of the two accused, Siya Goyal, 20. Goyal and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhury, 22, were arrested on June 23 and have been remanded in police custody till June 29. Ketan Agrawal reportedly died after falling from Lohagad Fort near Pune on June 18, after which a case was registered.
Police believe the crime scene recreation could help establish exactly what happened at Lohagad Fort and determine the sequence of events surrounding the alleged murder.
During the reconstruction, the police made Goyal retrace their movements from the time they reached the fort, identify the route they took, point out the exact location where Agarwal was allegedly pushed, and explain the sequence of events before and after the incident.
Pune Rural Police SP Sandeep Singh Gill said, “The accused was taken to the Lohagad Fort, specifically to the spot where the crime took place, to recreate the scene. The entire sequence of events is being reconstructed: the route taken, where the accused positioned themselves, the specific actions performed and how the incident unfolded. The accused has provided details regarding this.”
Deputy Superintendent of police Gajanan Tompe said that police had also created a dummy of the same weight as Ketan for the reconstruction of the scene. “Today, according to Siya’s description, we recreated the crime scene at the Lohagad fort,” he added.
Police officers said that the exercise was conducted to verify the claims made by the accused with physical evidence, CCTV footage, and other material collected during the probe, while also helping establish the sequence of events for the prosecution.
Meanwhile, police seized the two-wheeler vehicle of accused Chetan Chaudhary in connection with the ongoing investigation into the murder case. According to police, the two-wheeler was allegedly used by Chetan, to travel from Pune to Lohagad Fort. In addition to the vehicle, authorities have also recovered the hoodie and headphones that the accused was wearing on the day of the incident.
Ketan Agarwal, a 25-year-old businessman, was found dead at the base of the fort on June 18 after falling from a height. Initially, the case was registered as an accidental death based on Siya’s statement. However, several inconsistencies in her accounts, along with CCTV footage showing a hooded man (later identified as her alleged lover Chetan Choudhary), call records and digital evidence led police to convert the case into murder.
