India
oi-Swastika Sruti
However, there seems to be a twist in the case related to the murder of the real estate agent of Pune city, Ketan Agrawal. The accused individuals have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days after a court ruling.
Accused Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary, involved in the murder of Pune real estate agent Ketan Agrawal, were remanded to 14 days judicial custody as police analyze deleted mobile phone chats containing code words found at Siya’s residence.
According to the statement given during the court hearing, the investigators found out an old phone belonging to Siya’s house and are analyzing chats deleted on the phone.
These deleted chats include some code words and nicknames of the accused persons.
Mobile Phone Seized by Police from Siya’s Residence
At the hearing held by Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) A. M. Vibhute, the case filed by the prosecution stated that the police had seized an old mobile phone belonging to Siya Goyal from her residence on Thursday.
Now the investigators are analyzing the mobile phone to find out its significance in the case.
In addition to that, the police are also making efforts to find out the circumstances in which Siya got hold of the mobile phone of Ketan Agrawal before his family members reached Lohagad Fort.
Sources revealed that once the family of Ketan reached the fort, Siya handed over his mobile phone to his family members.
Deleted Chats Come Under Scrutiny
It was brought to the attention of the court by the prosecution that forensic experts have been able to recover some deleted data from one of the accused’s mobile phone.
Nevertheless, it is being claimed that most of the messages recovered are full of nicknames and codewords that make the interpretation of the conversations difficult.
It has been stated by Public Prosecutor Advocate Vipul Dushing that more time is required to decode these conversations and match them with other evidence found in the course of investigation.
Police Sought More Custody
As it requested for an extension of the police custody, the prosecution advanced five reasons before the court.
The prosecution felt that the interrogations were required in order to enable the accused to face the digital evidence and understand what the coded conversations were about.
According to the investigators, this would help to achieve some parts of the investigations.
Opposition by Defence for Extension of Custody Period
The defence was strongly against the extension of the accused’s custodial period by the prosecution because it considered the interrogation process being conducted by the police as a “fishing inquiry.”
It argued that after almost 12 days of detention by the police, there had been no new evidence presented by the investigators to warrant any more custodial interrogations.
It further raised doubts over the use of code words used in private messages by the accused as self-incriminating evidence, which is against Article 20 of the Constitution.
Accused Sent to Judicial Custody by the Court
After listening to both parties, the court reserved its judgment in regard to the police custody petition.At a later date, the court directed that Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary should be kept in judicial custody for 14 days.
In simple terms, the accused would continue to be in jail during the course of their investigation.
Further Investigation Ongoing
Law enforcement officials are still analyzing digital evidence, eyewitness accounts, and forensic reports in their ongoing investigation regarding the death of Ketan Agrawal.
The mobile phone recovered along with deleted chats and other digital evidence is expected to be crucial to the investigation.
Authorities will also be looking into whether the code talks offer any more insights into the planning of the murder.
With the two accused now in judicial custody, it is likely that authorities will keep on analysing the digital evidence for the next step in the case.
