In Pune on June 18, what was meant to be a birthday celebration at the historic Lohagad Fort near Lonavala ended with 26-year-old businessman Ketan Vishal Agarwal lying dead at the bottom of a gorge. For days, it was treated as a tragic trekking accident. Police now say it was a carefully rehearsed murder and that the woman who reported his "fall" was the one who orchestrated it.
Agarwal's fiancée, 20-year-old Siya Goyal, and her alleged lover, 22-year-old Chetan Chaudhary, have been arrested and charged with conspiracy and murder. According to investigators, the killing was not impulsive; it was the third attempt in roughly five weeks, following two earlier plans that fell apart.
Goyal and Agarwal got engaged in February, with an elaborate wedding planned for November reportedly a multi-crore celebration in Udaipur with a Jaipur palace booked and private aircraft arranged for guests. But police say Goyal had privately decided she did not want to go through with the marriage and saw Agarwal as an obstacle to her relationship with Chaudhary, whom she had reportedly met at a Diwali party the previous year.
Investigators allege the first sign of sabotage came before a planned pre-wedding trip to Bali. Goyal allegedly stole and disposed of Agarwal's passport at a hotel, forcing the couple to turn back from the airport and cancel the trip.
Police say Goyal then began steering Agarwal toward Lohagad Fort, first suggesting a visit on May 31. On June 14, she allegedly tried to push him from near the cliff edge, but Agarwal grabbed onto a tree and survived. When he asked what had happened, Goyal reportedly told him she had spotted a snake and was trying to pull him to safety.
Four days later, on June 18, Goyal's birthday, she allegedly lured Agarwal back to the same fort instead of the resort celebration he had arranged. Police say Chaudhary had separately travelled the roughly 90-kilometre route from Pune on a scooter rather than a car, reportedly to avoid being recorded at a toll plaza, and that the pair had previously scouted the fort together to identify a suitable spot. According to police, Goyal sat down beside Agarwal near the cliff edge a position investigators say was deliberately chosen so she would be out of his reach if he tried to grab her while falling and signalled Chaudhary, who pushed Agarwal into the gorge below.
Goyal allegedly told a security guard at the fort, and later the police and Agarwal's own family, that he had slipped while taking photographs. Based on her account, authorities initially registered the case as an accidental death.
In the days that followed, Goyal posted an emotional Instagram tribute, including photos and video clips of the couple together. One story read, in part: "Why did you leave me when I loved you so much?" At the time, it drew widespread sympathy online.
The investigation turned after Agarwal's family raised suspicions about tension between the couple and approached police. Officers reviewing CCTV footage and phone records reportedly traced Chaudhary's presence near the crime scene and found inconsistencies in Goyal's account. She and Chaudhary were arrested on June 23.
Once the murder allegation became public, Goyal's earlier Instagram posts, including the birthday tribute, were widely re-shared online, this time read by many as a chilling attempt to maintain the illusion of grief. Police later took Goyal back to Lohagad Fort to reconstruct the sequence of events using a dummy, and both accused reportedly admitted during the exercise that they had visited the fort beforehand to identify and "practise" at a suitable location.
Both Goyal and Chaudhary remain in police custody as the investigation continues. As with any criminal case, the allegations against them are yet to be proven in court.
Sources & References:
- PTI / The Federal, *"Ketan Agarwal murder: Siya's signal to 'lover' was also meant to ensure her safety, say cops"* — June 29, 2026
- The Week, *"Ketan Agarwal murder: Siya Goyal tried to lure fiancé to Lohagad Fort multiple times, even called his mother to convince him"* — June 23, 2026
- The Statesman, *"'You left me on my birthday...I loved you so much': Siya Goyal's Instagram story after killing fiancé"* — June 2026
- Free Press Journal, *"'Rest In Peace, My Love': Murder Accused Siya Goyal's Emotional Instagram Posts After Fiancé Ketan Agarwal's Death Go Viral"* — June 27, 2026
- WION News, *"'I loved you but you left...': Pune woman Siya Goyal's emotional social media posts after Ketan Agarwal's murder surface"* — June 2026
- WION News, *"'My heart found its home': Pune murder accused Siya reveals she didn't want to marry Ketan, but her Instagram posts tell a different story"* — June 2026
- The Star (ANN/The Statesman), *"'You left me on my birthday...I loved you so much': Pune girl's Instagram story after allegedly killing fiancé"* — June 24, 2026