The father of Chetan Babulal Chaudhary, one of the two people arrested in connection with the killing of 26-year-old Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal, has claimed his son was not involved in the murder and was "standing far away" when the victim fell at Lohagad Fort.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Babulal Chowdhury said, "He did not inform me beforehand. He only mentioned that he had a meeting and was heading there. He had told his mother that in the morning, and he told me the same. He did not give me any other details before leaving after speaking with his mother."
Chowdhury said the family had no knowledge of Siya Goyal, the woman accused alongside his son. "We have never seen the girl in question and know absolutely nothing about her. In fact, I only found out her name, Siya, yesterday; I have never seen her before. He is being falsely framed and has no involvement in this matter," he said.
He further claimed his son was not near Ketan when he fell.
"He clearly told us that he did not push the boy and was standing far away. The girl was the one standing right there when the boy fell. I do not know whether she pushed him or not, but Chetan mentioned that he was standing a little further back," Chowdhury said.
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He also claimed police had described the matter differently to the family. "The police have informed us that this is a minor issue and is actually a case of fraud. They assured us they would release the child to us within two hours," he said.
Ketan, engaged to Siya since February, died on June 18 after allegedly being pushed into a gorge during a trek at Lohagad Fort near Pune.
Police have said the killing was premeditated, with Chaudhary allegedly trailing the couple on the trek wearing a hoodie to mask his identity, and have cited over 2,000 phone calls between Siya and Chetan over seven months as evidence of their relationship.
Both have been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.
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