Before killing Ketan, Siya, Chetan searched law student’s Lohagad death, mushroom poisoning

Police have also invoked provisions of the Information Technology Act after probe revealed the accused used a fake Instagram handle carrying the name and identity of a fictitious friend of Siya named “Mahi” to chat with Ketan and to convince him to be at Lohagad Fort on June 18 to for the celebration of Siya’s birthday the next day.

“The investigation has revealed Siya and Chetan were deliberating ways to stage the murder of Ketan as an accident. Around this time, Siya came across information about the death of Manasi Govindpurkar, a 21-year-old law student who had died after a fall from the cliff of Lohagad fort in March 2025. Subsequent to this Siya and Chetan allegedly finalised Lohagad Fort as the location to murder Ketan by pushing him down. Then they researched about the fort on the Internet and social media and also told Hange that the location had been finalised,” said an officer who is part of the probe. Sources said this is part of the chargesheet filed by the police.

The probe has also revealed details about various internet and social media searches by Siya and Chetan while allegedly hatching the murder conspiracy. An officer said, “Analysis of deleted data of Siya and Chetan’s phones which was later retrieved has revealed their searches. Siya and Chetan searched for ‘Death cap mushroom’, a poisonous mushroom variety, and its availability in India. They also searched about the case in Australia. They also searched how to format Google history, how to format Google accounts and how to format iPhone.”

What initially appeared to be a tragic accident at Lohagad Fort later unravelled into a meticulously planned murder, as per the probe by police. Ketan, who was from a prominent realtor family of Pune, was allegedly pushed off a cliff at Lohagad fort on June 18 as part of a conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by Siya and Chetan. Siya and Ketan got engaged on February 19 and were to marry later this year. However, investigators claim Siya was in a relationship with Chetan since October last year and was unwilling to go ahead with the marriage.