'Come forward and help us': Ketan's father appeals to witnesses present at Lohagad on day of murder

Hundreds gathered outside Belmondo Society on the outskirts of Pune on Saturday evening, candles in hand, as Ketan Agarwal's family walked in grief and demanded justice. At the centre of the candlelight march was a plea that cut through the emotion, a direct appeal from a bereaved father to the strangers who witnessed his son's death and have not yet spoken to the police.

Vishal Agarwal, Ketan's father, told those assembled that several people who were present at Lohagad Fort on June 18, when police say his 25-year-old son was pushed off a cliff by his fiancée, Siya Goyal and her boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary, had been reaching out to the family privately but had not come forward officially.

"Some people are messaging us, saying they were present at the fort, but they are not approaching the police. I urge all of them to come forward and help us get justice for Ketan. I assure them they will not face any problems," he said.

A family's grief and anger

The march brought together locals, friends, and relatives whose grief had turned to outrage. Ketan's grandfather, Devichand Agarwal, addressed the gathering with his voice breaking. "We have been betrayed by our own people, whom we had known for several years," he said. He demanded that the police widen their investigation to include all those involved in arranging the marriage, and called for the harshest possible punishment for the accused. "We want the police to investigate everyone responsible for this wedding. These two accused, Siya and Chetan, should be awarded capital punishment," he said.

Ketan's mother echoed that demand, seeking capital punishment for the accused duo and calling for action against Siya's family members.

Another relative raised the question that has haunted the family since the tragedy. "When Siya's entire family came to discuss the wedding, they were told everything about Ketan. Nothing was hidden from them. If she had any issues, why didn't she say so? She spent time with him, went out with him and continued the relationship. If she did not want to marry him, she could have simply said no from the beginning. We only want justice for our child and our family," the relative said.

Investigation widens

While the family mourned publicly, police continued their questioning behind closed doors. Siya Goyal's parents, Praveen and Pooja Goyal, were questioned for several hours on Saturday, a day after her brother Sahil reportedly underwent nearly ten hours of interrogation. Siya's mother denied that the family had put any pressure on her daughter to go ahead with the marriage to Ketan, reportedly telling investigators: "We did not put any kind of pressure on Siya to marry Ketan."

Police say Siya, 20, and Chetan, 22, conspired to kill Ketan because Siya wanted out of the arranged marriage scheduled for November. Deputy Superintendent of Police Gajanan Tompe confirmed that investigators had found evidence of signals exchanged between Siya and Chetan shortly before Ketan was allegedly pushed. Chetan's mobile phone has been seized and will be sent for forensic analysis to determine whether any chats or digital data were deleted.

Authorities have also ruled out reports claiming that the fact Ketan wore a hair patch was among the primary motivations behind the alleged murder plot.

Ketan's family said they would continue pushing for justice and thanked Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for promising a speedy trial and appointing senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam as public prosecutor in the case.