The recent murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, allegedly by his fiancée and her associate, has drawn parallels to the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case of Raja Raghvanshi, whose wife Sonam was accused of conspiring with her alleged male friend to kill him. In the Meghalaya case, Sonam was granted bail by the High Court, which criticized the investigation for a "total non-application of judicious mind," a procedural lapse investigators in the Agarwal case are reportedly keen to avoid. Agarwal's fiancée, Siya Goyal, allegedly confessed to plotting his death with her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, fearing social stigma if she broke off the engagement. Both Goyal and Chaudhary have been remanded to police custody, and investigators are pursuing digital and circumstantial evidence, including mobile data and deleted messages, as direct evidence is scarce, while the Meghalaya government has appealed Sonam Raghvanshi's bail in the Supreme Court.

The recent murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, allegedly by his fiancée and her associate, has drawn parallels to the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case of Raja Raghvanshi, whose wife Sonam was accused of conspiring with her alleged male friend to kill him. In the Meghalaya case, Sonam was granted bail by the High Court, which criticized the investigation for a "total non-application of judicious mind," a procedural lapse investigators in the Agarwal case are reportedly keen to avoid. Agarwal's fiancée, Siya Goyal, allegedly confessed to plotting his death with her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, fearing social stigma if she broke off the engagement. Both Goyal and Chaudhary have been remanded to police custody, and investigators are pursuing digital and circumstantial evidence, including mobile data and deleted messages, as direct evidence is scarce, while the Meghalaya government has appealed Sonam Raghvanshi's bail in the Supreme Court.

The recent murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, allegedly by his fiancée and her associate, has drawn parallels to the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case of Raja Raghvanshi, whose wife Sonam was accused of conspiring with her alleged male friend to kill him. In the Meghalaya case, Sonam was granted bail by the High Court, which criticized the investigation for a "total non-application of judicious mind," a procedural lapse investigators in the Agarwal case are reportedly keen to avoid. Agarwal's fiancée, Siya Goyal, allegedly confessed to plotting his death with her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, fearing social stigma if she broke off the engagement. Both Goyal and Chaudhary have been remanded to police custody, and investigators are pursuing digital and circumstantial evidence, including mobile data and deleted messages, as direct evidence is scarce, while the Meghalaya government has appealed Sonam Raghvanshi's bail in the Supreme Court.

The murder of Pune-based realtor Ketan Agarwal, allegedly by his fiancee and her male friend, has brought renewed attention to a similar high-profile case—the killing of Raja Raghvanshi in Meghalaya.

Raja Raghvanshi and his wife Sonam Raghvanshi had gone missing while vacationing in Meghalaya’s Sohra area on May 23 last year. His body was later recovered on June 2 from a deep gorge near a waterfall in the Sohra (Cherrapunji) area of East Khasi Hills district, while Sonam initially remained missing.

She was subsequently arrested on June 9, 2025, from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, on charges of conspiring to murder her husband with the help of her alleged male friend. She remained in judicial custody at Shillong District Jail for over 10 months before being granted bail on April 27 this year.

Sonam’s alleged partner, Raj Kushwaha, along with three others, has also been arrested in connection with the case.

On June 29, the Meghalaya High Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting bail to Sonam, observing that the grounds of arrest reflected a “total non-application of judicious mind.”

“It is evident that such preparation was made without any application of mind... and nowhere is found any specific allegation or information as to what are the actual charges against her,” the court noted.

Now, investigators probing the Ketan Agarwal case are reportedly being cautious to avoid similar procedural lapses.

Ketan died on June 18 after falling into a gorge at Lohagad Fort in Pune district. While the incident was initially treated as an accident, police later alleged that he was pushed to his death by his fiancée, Siya Goyal, and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary.

According to police, Siya allegedly confessed that she did not want to marry Ketan and conspired with Chetan to kill him, fearing social stigma if she called off the wedding.

A local court on Monday remanded both accused to police custody till July 3.

Investigators are reportedly planning a polygraph test of the accused, as there is, like the Sonam's case, no direct evidence such as CCTV footage or eyewitness accounts proving the alleged murder.

Police are instead relying on digital and circumstantial evidence, including mobile call records, deleted messages, location data, available CCTV footage, and statements from family members to build their case.

In the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case, the state government has moved the Supreme Court against grant of bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu that the high court had erred in granting bail to the accused and sought urgent listing of the plea.

The bench has agreed to list the matter for hearing on Friday.