Police investigating the murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal will conduct a "gait analysis" of accused Chetan Chaudhary and plan to compare CCTV footage capturing his movements at Lohagad Fort with a recreated video, a court was informed on Monday.
Police also highlighted the need to probe several other aspects of the case, including the exact spot of the crime on the fort and the victim's missing passport, while seeking an extension of police custody for Chaudhary and his lover Siya Goyal, Agarwal's fiancée, according to PTI.
The court extended their police custody till July 3.
Goyal, 20, and Chaudhary, 22, were arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill Agarwal, 25, and pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June 18.
What Is Gait Analysis And Why Is It Being Used?
A police official explained that gait analysis is the study of a person's walking pattern, used to identify suspects from CCTV footage by comparing distinctive characteristics such as stride length, posture and limb movements.
In this case, police said the analysis became necessary because Chaudhary wore a hoodie to conceal his face on the day of the crime, making facial identification from CCTV footage difficult.
Police will recreate the CCTV footage by having Chaudhary wear a similar hoodie and walk at the same spot on the fort in a similar manner.
"We are planning to conduct a gait analysis of Chaudhary. We have CCTV footage showing him walking while wearing a hoodie to hide his face. The gait analysis will compare his locomotion in the CCTV footage with the recreated video to determine whether the walking patterns match," the official said.
What The Prosecutor Told The Court
Assistant public prosecutor Rajashri Virkud told the court that the probe had shown the duo visited the fort to determine the spot to push Agarwal off the cliff, and that police wanted to question both of them on this aspect.
She said the accused had repeatedly met at various locations to hatch the conspiracy and that they had deleted digital data constituting crucial evidence, with recovery efforts currently underway.
The court was also told that a reconstruction of events based on Goyal's statement was conducted on June 28, and this sequence now needs to be verified with Chaudhary.
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The Missing Passport And Witness Accounts
The prosecutor said Goyal had not wanted to travel to Bali with Agarwal for a pre-wedding shoot and had allegedly removed his passport from his bag, discarding it at a food mall in Khalapur in Raigad district during their journey from Pune to Mumbai.
She said the passport needs to be located and recovered with Goyal's assistance. It also stated that certain important witnesses had recently come forward, who would now be confronted with the accused for verification.
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Reconstruction Of The Crime Scene
Police had earlier taken Goyal to the fort to reconstruct the crime scene using a human-sized dummy, with officials saying she sat down to signal Chaudhary to push Agarwal off the cliff.
Investigators said Chaudhary travelled to the site on a scooter instead of a car to avoid detection at toll plazas, removed his hoodie after climbing the fort, and put it back on while leaving to avoid attracting attention before returning to Pune.
Advocates for both accused have contested aspects of the case, with Goyal's lawyer Vipul Dushing arguing her arrest was illegal, while Chaudhary's lawyer Ram Shahane said his client's role in the FIR remains limited and undefined.
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