As police continue to build their case against Chetan Chaudhary and Siya Goyal in the alleged murder of Ketan Agarwal, Chetan's family has come out strongly in his defence, insisting that he is innocent and is being framed in the case. They also claimed that they knew nothing about Siya.
Chetan's father, Babulal Chowdhury, said the family had never met Siya and only learnt her name after the case came to light.
"We have never seen the girl in question and know absolutely nothing about her. In fact, I only found out her name, Siya, yesterday; I have never seen her before," he said, according to news agency ANI.
Rejecting the allegations against his son, Babulal claimed Chetan had told the family he was nowhere near Ketan when the young man fell to his death at Lohagad Fort in Pune.
"He is being falsely framed and has no involvement in this matter. He clearly told us that he did not push the boy and was standing far away. The girl was the one standing right there when the boy fell. I do not know whether she pushed him or not, but Chetan mentioned that he was standing a little further back," he said.
According to Babulal, Chetan had informed the family only that he was going for a meeting on the day of the incident and did not share any further details before leaving home.
He also claimed that police had informed the family that the matter was a minor issue and "actually a case of fraud" and had assured them that Chetan would be released.
Chetan's uncle, Udayram Chowdhury, too made similar claims of his nephew being innocent and accused the media of presenting a one-sided narrative.
"Chetan is completely innocent in this matter. The media is hyping this up and showing a one-sided view on Instagram, but Chetan is not involved in it," ANI quoted him as saying.
Describing his nephew as a sportsperson with a clean reputation, Udayram said, "Chetan is a sportsman and a very straightforward person; there has never been a single complaint against him from anyone in the market."
He also maintained that the family was unaware of any relationship between Chetan and Siya.
"Our family members do not know anything about Chetan's relationship with that girl; we had absolutely no idea," he said.
According to Udayram, the family was briefly allowed to meet Chetan after his detention.
"We even got a chance to meet him for a minute, and he told us while crying that he was being falsely implicated in this," he said.
The family's defence comes even as investigators claim they have uncovered evidence linking Chetan and Siya to a conspiracy to kill Ketan Agarwal.
According to the police, Ketan, who was engaged to Siya and scheduled to marry her in November, was pushed into a gorge at Lohagad Fort near Pune on June 18.
The case was initially registered as an accidental death after Siya reportedly told Ketan's family that he had slipped during a trek.
However, investigators later reviewed CCTV footage from the fort and noticed a hooded man following Ketan and Siya. Police said the man's suspicious behaviour, including wearing a hoodie despite temperatures of around 33 degrees Celsius, raised questions and led to a deeper probe.
Subsequent analysis of call records and digital evidence allegedly revealed extensive communication between Siya and Chetan. Police said thousands of calls exchanged between the two in the past six months helped establish what investigators described as a close relationship and a premeditated conspiracy.
Based on the investigation, police arrested both Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
—With agency inputs
