Pune Lohagad Murder: Accused Rehearsed Pushing Fiancé off Cliff Before Execution, Police Reveal

Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary rehearsed pushing Ketan Agarwal to his death days before executing the crime. Agarwal, a 26-year-old director of a Pune realty firm, was pushed off a cliff at Lohagad Fort on June 18, 2026.

A team of police officers on Thursday morning took Goyal to an open ground next to a club in Lulla Nagar to reconstruct how the pair practised the execution. The latest findings reveal deliberate premeditation. The Indian Express reported the accused researched ways to evade detection.

Practice and Digital Coverups

The suspects used the internet and social media to study methods of escaping police scrutiny after committing an offence. They erased their chat history and established a physical cue to coordinate the attack. The plan required Goyal to sit on the ground to signal Chaudhary to push Agarwal off the cliff.

"It is becoming increasingly evident as the investigation progresses that Siya and Chetan not only planned the execution of the alleged conspiracy but also took deliberate steps to ensure that the incident would not be detected by investigators as a case of murder, employing measures in both the physical and digital domains to conceal the crime and misdirect the investigation," a police officer said, in remarks reported by The Indian Express.

The rehearsal location remains a subject of inquiry.

"For example, we now know that Siya and Chetan conducted practice on how to execute the plan of pushing Ketan off the cliff. This practice was conducted near a club in Pune ’s Lulla Nagar area. We are now investigating why this location was chosen and how the two practised. On Thursday morning, an investigation team took Siya to the location to find out how they practised," the officer said.

A Fatal Love Triangle

Goyal and Agarwal were engaged on February 19, 2026, with their wedding planned for later in the year. However, Goyal had maintained a relationship with Chaudhary since October. She plotted the murder because she did not want to marry Agarwal.

The plan culminated on June 18 when the couple visited Lohagad Fort. Chaudhary followed them wearing a hoodie to prevent identification. He waited for Goyal to sit on the ground—the pre-arranged cue—before pushing Agarwal into a 350-metre gorge next to the fort.

Police arrested Goyal and Chaudhary on June 23, 2026. A Pune district magistrate court subsequently remanded both accused to seven days of police custody until June 29, 2026. This initial custody was granted to the Lonavala Rural Police for further investigation and interrogation after the duo confessed to conspiring and pushing Agarwal to his death.