Ketan Agarwal
Pune: The process of framing charges in the Lohagad fort murder of young entrepreneur Ketan Agrawal (26) was postponed till Nov 17 after lawyers of the accused on Saturday raised objections regarding the availability of digital evidence and documents related to the trial. The hearing in the case was held at the additional district and sessions court in Wadgaon Maval, after Pune Rural police filed a 5,053-page chargesheet. The three accused in the case — Siya Goyal (19), Chetan Chaudhary (22) and Ritesh Hange — appeared before additional district and sessions judge D K Anbhule through video conferencing.
Because the police had not provided them with digital documents related to the evidence, the defence lawyers argued that further proceedings in the trial could not take place. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam represented the prosecution. Advocates Vipul Dushing and N M Bhalerao appeared for Siya, fiancée of Ketan. Advocates Harshad Nimbalkar and Jayraj Jagtap represented Chetan, Siya’s boyfriend. The third accused, Ritesh, sought more time from the court to appoint a lawyer. The court clarified that if Ritesh, Chetan’s friend, failed to appoint a lawyer by the next hearing, one would be provided to him through the Legal Services Committee.
Pune Rural police claimed that the accused had visited the Lohagad area beforehand and rehearsed the alleged murder before Ketan was pushed off the fort on June 18.
Nikam told reporters that the process of framing charges would take place in the next hearing. He said the prosecution was relying on documentary evidence and would submit a list of the evidence it possessed before the court. He also observed that the accused did not appear to show any signs of grief or remorse.
The investigation into the case examined the relationship between Siya and Chetan, the alleged preparations made before the murder, digital evidence recovered from cellphones, internet searches and communications.