Siya taken to Pune site where Ketan's murder plot was rehearsed; cops seek nod for polygraph tests

PUNE: Police on Thursday morning took Siya Goyal to a location in Pune where she and Chetan Chaudhary had allegedly rehearsed how to push her fiancé and realtor Ketan Agarwal off a cliff at Lohagad Fort, officials said.

Pune police has also moved court seeking permission to conduct polygraph tests on Goyal and her alleged lover Chaudhary, an official said. A polygraph test, also called a 'lie detector test', measures physiological responses like blood pressure, pulse, respiration and sweat when questions pertaining to the incident are answered.

Clothes allegedly worn by Goyal on June 18, the day of the incident, have been recovered during a search at her residence in Market Yard area of Pune, he added.

Goyal (20) and Chaudhary (22) are accused of pushing 25-year-old Agarwal to his death from a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18. Agarwal and Goyal were set to marry in November this year.

Following the alleged murder, Goyal and Chaudhary were arrested and have been remanded in police custody till July 3.

"Investigation has revealed that Siya and Chetan had rehearsed at a hillock-like space near a club in Lullanagar how to push Ketan off the cliff at Lohagad Fort. Today, Siya was taken to the spot, where she identified the place where they had allegedly carried out the rehearsal," a Pune Rural Police official said.

The alleged rehearsal took place in May and probe is on to find out the exact date and other details, the official informed.

"We have also collected substantial amount of technical and digital data, which is currently being analysed and cross-verified," he added.

During the house panchnama, the police recovered the clothes Goyal had allegedly worn on the day of the incident at Lohagad Fort, the official said.

The official said an application has been moved in the Vadgaon Maval court seeking permission for polygraph tests on Goyal and Chaudhary.

"The court will first issue notices to the accused and record their consent before any further process. The procedure is yet to be completed," the official told PTI.

According to police, Goyal and Chaudhary allegedly eliminated Agarwal as he was turning out to be an obstacle in their relationship.

The Pune Rural police on Wednesday recreated the crime scene with co-accused Chaudhary, who allegedly played a role in the conspiracy to murder Agarwal. They conducted a similar crime scene reconstruction with Goyal on Sunday, during which a dummy was pushed off the cliff in her presence.

According to the police, Ketan Agarwal's father Vishal Agarwal mentioned in his complaint that his son had repeatedly voiced concerns about Goyal’s closeness to Chaudhary, saying she often mentioned the latter's name in their conversations.

Goyal had earlier sabotaged their planned pre-wedding trip to Bali, Indonesia, the police said.