A 22-year-old man has been arrested by Pune Rural Police as the third suspect for being a part of the plot to kill realtor Ketan Agarwal. The development was confirmed by authorities on 5th September (Saturday). Police have identified the arrested man as Ritesh Hinge, who will be recognised as a co-accused in the case, and have placed him in police custody until 12th September.
Hinge has been friends with Chetan Choudhary, who police asserted was dating Siya Goyal, late Ketal Agarwal’s fiancée. Ketan was killed after Siya and Chetan shoved him from a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on 18th June.
Pune Rural superintendent of police Sandip Singh Gill stated, “During the investigation, it came to light that Ritesh was involved in the planning of Ketan Agarwal’s murder.” Another officer mentioned, “He was aware of the earlier plan of Goyal and Chaudhary to injure Ketan by breaking his hands and legs and subsequently eliminate him. After allegedly executing the murder at Lohagad fort on 18th June, Chetan contacted Ritesh and informed him about it.”
According to insiders, Hinge turned down the couple’s numerous requests to go with them to Lohagad on the day of the murder, reported India Today. They mentioned that information retrieved from Choudhary’s phone was used to track him down. Hinge, who was born in the Beed district, is employed by a private company in the Balewadi area of Pune. He and Choudhary have been in communication since the last week of May.
Hinge is being questioned by the police to find out how much he knows and whether he was involved in the execution of the crime. An officer conveyed, “This friend was aware of the conspiracy to eliminate Ketan prior to the incident and was told about the murder after the incident. Further details about his role will be shared soon.”
Officers looking into the matter informed that Siya had previously ruined her and Ketan’s pre-wedding photo session in Bali by snatching his passport and then throwing it in a food mall lavatory on the Pune-Mumbai Motorway. According to police, Siya and Chetan practised how they would carry out their murderous scheme a few days before pushing Ketan off the cliff. According to the police, this rehearsal took place in an open location close to a club lounge in Pune’s Lulla Nagar neighbourhood.
Businessman Agrawal of Pune passed away on 18th June while trekking with his fiancée, Siya Goyal, after falling into a gorge at Lohagad Fort. Goyal claimed that Agrawal slipped as they were snapping pictures close to the fort’s edge, leading to the first handling of the death as an accident.
However, Agrawal’s sister questioned Goyal about the incident and discovered contradictions in her account, after which the investigation took a different turn. The circumstances surrounding his death were investigated further after the family contacted the police. Goyal and Choudhary were then apprehended by police on suspicion of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Police reviewed CCTV footage, technological evidence and interrogated many people at the insistence of the victim’s family before making any arrests. Afterwards, police discovered that Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary had an affair. Despite the June heat, CCTV footage from the area showed a man in a hoodie tracking Ketan and Siya’s car and their activities around the fort. Investigators were eventually able to identify and follow Chetan owing to his distinctive outfit.
