Lohagad wasn’t first choice: Pune Rural police reveal fresh details in Ketan murder probe

When asked about reports of Chetan and Siya having contacted a contract killer, an officer said, “Chetan and Siya discussed the option of arranging a hit to injure Ketan but did not contact any person for it. They researched other ways to eliminate Ketan including poisoning and also studied ways to protect themselves from getting caught. The two watched some murder conspiracy movies for this purpose. They even thought of ways to make his death look like an accident. While Chetan and Siya had decided to eliminate Ketan, the reason they wanted to make it happen on May 31 was to avoid Siya having to go to Bali with Ketan on June 6. The Bali trip was planned for eight days.” an officer added.

Another officer who is part of the probe said, “After meeting in October last and subsequently starting their relationship, Siya and Chetan visited many places outside Maharashtra together. They travelled together to Rajasthan on one occasion and Goa on another. After some of the under-investigation communication pointed to the possibility of the two having gotten married, we probed that angle too. But we have not yet found any concrete legal evidence of Chetan and Siya having gotten married.”

What initially appeared to be a tragic accident at Lohagad Fort has, according to the probe by Pune Rural Police, unravelled into a meticulously planned murder. Investigators allege that 26-year-old Ketan was pushed off a cliff at Lohagad fort as part of a conspiracy, allegedly orchestrated by his Siya and Chetan, who were arrested on June 23. Police said Siya and Ketan got engaged on February 19 and were to marry later this year. However, investigators claim Siya had been in a relationship with Chetan since October last year and was unwilling to go ahead with the marriage.

According to the officers investigating the case, Siya had earlier derailed her and Ketan’s planned pre-wedding shoot in Bali by stealing Ketan’s passport and later discarding it in the washroom of a foodmall on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. Police have also said that days before they allegedly pushed Ketan off the cliff of the Lohagad Fort in Pune on June 18, Siya and Chetan conducted practice on how they would execute their plan of murder. Police said that this rehearsal was conducted in an open space next to a club lounge in Pune’s Lulla Nagar area of Pune city.