Accused Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were produced before a court in the Ketan Agarwal murder case, where the prosecution sought an extension of their police custody to carry the investigation forward. During the hearing before JMFC A. M. Vibhute, government pleader Advocate Rajshree Veerkud argued that investigators had recovered a mobile phone, roughly a year old, from Siya Goyal's house.
Deleted Data Recovered From Phones
The device predates the handset the accused was using more recently, and investigators believe it may hold conversations relevant to the case. According to the prosecution, deleted data has also been retrieved from the accused's current mobile phone. Several of the recovered chats are said to contain code words and nicknames, and the prosecution argued that decoding these exchanges, and questioning the accused about them, requires further and thorough investigation. Investigators maintain that the probe cannot move ahead without first understanding the intent hidden behind this coded conversation.
Five Grounds Cited By Police
Government pleader Advocate Vipul Dushing told the court that the police had placed five separate grounds before it in support of the demand for extended custody. The prosecution maintained that understanding the meaning of the alleged coded conversations, and questioning the accused based on the digital evidence recovered from them, would directly help move the investigation forward and close gaps that remain in the case.
Defence Calls It a Fishing Inquiry
The defence strongly opposed the police's demand, telling the court that the investigating agency was merely conducting a fishing inquiry in the hope of finding fresh evidence. It argued that after 12 days of police custody, no further remand could be sought without concrete and specific grounds, and that vague references to coded chats were not enough to justify extending detention. The defence also contended that asking the accused to explain the alleged code names and nicknames found in the chats, in a manner that would force them to testify against themselves, went against the protection available under Article 20 of the Indian Constitution.
Court Sends Both To Judicial Custody
The prosecution reiterated that further police custody would directly aid the investigation and was essential to complete the pending probe. After hearing detailed arguments from both sides, the court sent both accused, Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary, to judicial custody.
The Case So Far
Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal was murdered at Lohagad Fort, and his fiancee Siya Goyal and her lover Chetan have been accused of the killing. Police have been continuously interrogating both of them since their arrest, and after 12 days in police custody, they currently remain in judicial custody as the investigation continues.
