Court remands Ketan Agarwal murder accused to judicial custody, rejects police’s demand
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Court remands Ketan Agarwal murder accused to judicial custody, rejects police’s demand")
Siya Goyal and Ketan Agarwal (L), and Chetan Chaudhary (R) Photograph: (X)
The prosecution said that investigators had recovered digital evidence, including mobile phone data, chats and other electronic material, which still needed to be analysed, and the accused had to be confronted with the newly recovered evidence.
Mumbai: A court in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Friday sent Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary, the two accused in the alleged murder of realtor Ketan Agarwal, to 14 days of judicial custody after rejecting the Pune Rural Police’s request for an extension of their police custody.
The order marks a significant stage in the investigation, with the court holding that the reasons cited by the police did not warrant continued police custody at this stage. The accused will remain in judicial custody till July 16 while the investigation continues.
During the hearing, the prosecution argued that investigators had recovered a large volume of digital evidence, including mobile phone data, chats and other electronic material, which still needed to be analysed. Police also submitted that the accused had to be confronted with the newly recovered evidence and claimed there was a possibility of a third person’s involvement that required further investigation. Investigators additionally informed the court that a newly recovered mobile phone allegedly linked to one of the accused was yet to be examined.
The defence opposed the plea, arguing that the grounds put forward by the prosecution were vague and amounted to a “fishing inquiry” rather than specific investigative requirements. Defence counsel contended that police had already been granted sufficient custodial interrogation and that any further investigation into digital evidence could continue while the accused remained in judicial custody.
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The defence further argued that if investigators later discovered fresh material requiring custodial interrogation, they were free to approach the court with concrete reasons instead of seeking an extension based on speculative grounds.
After hearing both sides, the court declined to extend police custody and remanded both accused to judicial custody for two weeks.
The case has attracted widespread public attention after investigators alleged that Agarwal was pushed into a gorge from Pune’s Lohagad Fort. Over the past several days, Pune Rural Police carried out multiple investigative steps, including crime scene reconstruction, gait analysis, recovery of digital evidence and searches at locations linked to the accused.
With police custody now over, the focus of the investigation is expected to shift towards forensic analysis of electronic evidence, examination of witness statements and completion of the remaining scientific investigation before the filing of the chargesheet.
