PUNE: Siya Goyal—the prime accused in the Lohagad murder case—claimed during custodial interrogation she disliked her fiancé, Ketan Agarwal, because he wore a hair patch, police said.When investigators asked why she didn’t simply refuse marriage, she offered a chilling rationale: she did not want to hurt her family’s sentiments.“She claimed that hatching a plot to eliminate Ketan by pushing him off the fort was ‘easier’ than hurting her family members by calling off the wedding,” an officer added.Ketan’s father, Vishal Agarwal, dismissed the claim as an absurd justification for a heinous crime. Speaking to reporters, he clarified that his son wore a small hair patch due to a medical condition and that the Goyal family had been fully informed of this before the engagement. “Wearing a hair patch cannot be a reason to kill my son. If she disliked it, she should have refused the marriage. This is no excuse for murder,” Agarwal said.The Pune Rural police on Friday recorded the statement of Siya’s brother, Sahil Goyal. Investigators believe the motive for the crime is rooted in a forced marriage and a secret relationship.“Preliminary investigation suggests that Sahil was aware of his sister’s relationship with Chetan Chaudhary (the co-accused). We are verifying if he had shared this information with other family members,” a police officer said.According to the police, the Goyal family became aware of Siya’s closeness to Chaudhary during a community cricket match in Jan. However, due to a significant disparity in financial status between the two families, the Goyals allegedly disregarded her feelings and fixed her marriage with the wealthier Agarwal family instead.Ketan’s father Vishal Agarwal, after meeting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, expressed confidence in the ongoing probe led by superintendent of police Sandeep Singh Gill, local crime branch inspector Pramod Kshirsagar, and the Lonavala rural police. He noted that the police have secured crucial CCTV footage and other technical leads.On Thursday, police took Siya to Lohagad Fort to conduct a spot inspection. They are also planning to recreate the crime scene using a dummy to verify the sequence of events that led to Ketan’s fatal fall.“We are conducting a thorough investigation and following all necessary legal procedures to ensure justice,” said deputy superintendent of police Gajanan Tompe.
