The message was sent while Agarwal’s family had already begun seeking Aadhaar details from relatives and friends to make travel bookings for the wedding, which was scheduled for November in Udaipur.
PUNE: Days after murder accused Siya Goyal allegedly blamed co-accused Chetan Chaudhary for the conspiracy to kill her fiancé and Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, a Snapchat message purportedly sent by her in May has added fresh twist in probe.In the message, she told a friend that her marriage to Ketan was “not going to take place”.Investigators said the message was sent while Agarwal’s family had already begun seeking Aadhaar details from relatives and friends to make travel bookings for the wedding, which was scheduled for November in Udaipur.The message read: “Send your Aadhaar card front and back side photo for tickets for the wedding, which is anyway not going to take place, but still do send it.”Police said they will question the friend who received the message to ascertain whether she had any prior knowledge of the alleged conspiracy. The authenticity of the Snapchat message is being verified.The latest development comes days after investigators said Goyal and Chaudhary began blaming each other during interrogation over the alleged conspiracy.According to police sources, Chaudhary claimed the plan to eliminate Agarwal was conceived by Goyal, while he had only intended to elope with her.Goyal, on the other hand, alleged that Chaudhary was the mastermind behind the conspiracy and had pressured her into participating.Investigators said both versions were confronted with digital evidence, CCTV footage and call records.Meanwhile, data recovered from all three mobile phones seized from Goyal and Chaudhary is being analysed. Police said they are corroborating chats, call records, location history and other digital evidence with witness statements.“We are conducting a detailed analysis of chats, call records, location history and other digital evidence recovered from the cellphones. Based on this information, we are verifying their movements, interactions and their alleged involvement in the conspiracy to murder Ketan. Every piece of digital evidence is being cross-verified with statements of witnesses,” a senior police officer said.Superintendent of police (SP) Sandip Singh Gill said investigators have also recorded the statement of a classmate of the accused. “The two had planned the murder carefully and worked hard on how not to get arrested,” he said.On Friday, a Pune court remanded Goyal and Chaudhary to 14-day judicial custody till July 16 after declining the prosecution’s plea for further police custody.During the hearing, the prosecution said data recovered from the accused’s mobile phones contained chats in coded language and submitted that custodial interrogation was required to decipher the conversations.It also informed the court that police had conducted panchnamas at the spot where Goyal allegedly disposed of Agarwal’s passport and at another location where the two allegedly rehearsed the murder.The court was also informed that police had recovered another mobile phone allegedly belonging to Goyal and sent it for forensic examination.The prosecution did not press its earlier plea seeking permission to conduct polygraph tests on the two accused after they declined to undergo the examination.During the visit to her residence earlier this week, where police recovered clothes she allegedly wore on the day of the incident, Goyal allegedly showed the middle finger and made obscene gestures, police had earlier said.Police said some witnesses present at the crime spot have now come forward and their statements are being recorded. Gill said investigators were also examining financial transactions between the accused, adding that details regarding money allegedly given by Agarwal to Goyal would be disclosed at an appropriate stage.Goyal (20) and Chaudhary (22) are accused of pushing 26-year-old Ketan to his death from a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18. The case was initially registered as an accidental death before being converted into a murder investigation. The two were arrested on June 23.
