Police said that Sonu and Uday released the snake onto Atul's bed, where it bit him. They then left the snake on the bed to make the death appear to be a natural snakebite.
SSP Avinash Pandey justified the police action and informed that the protesters had turned violent and attacked police personnel during the demonstration.
The Crime Branch team arrested both accused soon after their return. They were produced before a court, which sent them to five days of police custody.
Rs 1 crore for wedding expenses, a mysteriously missing passport, a failed cliff-top incident and an ill-fated return to Lohagad, the Ketan Agarwal case is as much about ignored red flags as it is about the murder conspiracy.
Police recovered a rope, tablets, alcohol bottles and a handwritten note from the locked room. Investigators examine murder, hanging and poisoning as possible causes pending post-mortem and forensic findings and Ali’s statement after recovery.