Ketan Agarwal case: Siya Goyal and Chetan to undergo lie-detector tests

Pune District Police plan to conduct polygraph tests on the fiance and her accomplice in connection with the businessman’s murder at Lohagad Fort as mutual blame-game over the plot and physical push, rise.

The murder investigation of Ketan Agarwal, a businessman based in Pune, has moved into its crucial phase. The Pune District Police are in the process of administering polygraph tests to the victim’s fiance Siya Goyal and her alleged accomplice Chetan Choudhary in light of discrepancies in their statements and each other being blamed for the crime.

In response to a lack of clarity during custodial questioning regarding the sequence of the events that resulted in the victim being pushed to death at the Lohagad Fort, near Lonavala, the police believe the lie-detector tests will help resolve discrepancies.

Why Police Need Polygraph Tests for the Accused?

While questioning after extended custodial remand of the suspects and their interrogation by the police hit a wall, both of the accused began to pass the buck against each other for being solely responsible for planning the conspiracy, or being the one to actually carry out the fatal push at Lohagad Fort, in which Ketan Agarwal, who was 26 years old, died after falling into a gorge after being pushed off the fort.

According to the investigation team of the Pune police, there was a clear difference between the answers of Siya and Choudhary in the six hour long cross examination conducted. The police then approached the legal system to allow them to carry out lie-detector test on both the suspects.

A Premeditated murder plot and electronic footprint:

This seemingly accident turned out to be a murder conspiracy involving several planning. The digital forensics examination of the mobile devices of Siya Goyal reveal that before the date of the murder, she had conducted several search engine queries on google related to different “least detectable methods of murder” along with technical searches to find out at what height the body would turn to a mush if one fell down.

The investigation team revealed that earlier, they tried to execute the same conspiracy more than twice, but due to unfavorable circumstances, they failed to do so. However, on June 18, both of them went on a trekking trip at Lohagad Fort with Ketan, where they finally planned the entire conspiracy and pushed Ketan into a 40-50 feet gorge.

The local court in Pune extended the police custody of Siya and Chetan till July 3, not only to give lie-detectors test, but also to seize a passport belonging to the suspects and trace out the spot on the fort from where the assault originated.

However, polygraph test results cannot be used as primary evidence in Indian courts, but forensic psychologists and investigators utilise physiological data generated during tests for evidence gathering like locating missing weapon or money and extracting details about involvement and criminal conspiracy.