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Siya took Rs 1 crore from Ketan for wedding shopping, gave it to Chetan: Sources

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Pune, June 29: Fresh revelations have surfaced in the investigation into the murder of 26-year-old Pune-based realtor Ketan Agarwal, with police sources alleging that his fiancée, Siya Goyal, took nearly Rs 1 crore from him in the name of wedding preparations before transferring the money to her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary.

According to investigators, Goyal, 20, and Chaudhary, 22, had meticulously planned the murder well in advance and allegedly charted out a long-term strategy to avoid suspicion after the crime. The two were arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill Agarwal by pushing him off a cliff at Lohagad Fort on June 18.

According to NDTV, police sources claim that Goyal had sought around Rs 1 crore from Agarwal, claiming it was required for wedding shopping and other marriage-related expenses. Instead of using the money for the wedding, she allegedly handed the entire amount to Chaudhary to help him establish his career and improve his financial condition.

Investigators believe the transfer of funds formed a crucial part of the alleged conspiracy. Since Chaudhary came from a financially modest background, he had reportedly told Goyal that he would need around three years to become financially secure.

The two allegedly agreed that after Agarwal’s death, Goyal would remain unmarried for that period to avoid attracting suspicion. Once Chaudhary was financially stable and public attention surrounding the case had subsided, they allegedly planned to marry.

Police suspect the delayed marriage was intended to make the relationship appear unrelated to the crime and eventually gain acceptance from Goyal’s family.

The investigation has also uncovered details about how the alleged murder was executed. Officials said Goyal and Chaudhary had agreed on a pre-decided signal before carrying out the attack.

According to investigators, Goyal was instructed to sit down, either on the pretext of drinking water or tying her shoelaces. This action would indicate to Chaudhary that the opportunity had arrived to push Agarwal off the cliff.

Police believe the signal served a dual purpose. Besides alerting Chaudhary, it also ensured that Goyal was positioned at a safe distance from Agarwal, reducing the possibility that he could grab her while falling.

Call Detail Records (CDRs) have further strengthened the investigators’ case. Sources said Goyal allegedly spoke to Chaudhary approximately 34 minutes before the incident. Police suspect the conversation was the final confirmation before the alleged murder was carried out.

Investigators have also claimed that the conspiracy had been finalised by the end of May and that an earlier attempt to kill Agarwal was allegedly made on June 14.

During that incident, Agarwal reportedly managed to save himself by holding onto nearby bushes after being pushed. Sources alleged that Goyal later claimed the incident was accidental, saying she had pushed him after being startled by a snake.

Following the failed attempt, investigators believe Chaudhary altered the plan. On June 18, he allegedly followed the couple to Lohagad Fort to ensure that Agarwal would not escape a second time.

Meanwhile, another aspect of the investigation has emerged from the statement of the driver who was hired to take the couple to Mumbai airport for a planned pre-wedding trip to Bali.

Driver Vaibhav Jadhav told investigators that Goyal appeared unwilling to travel and claimed that her brother, Sahil forced her into the vehicle after picking her up from Pune. During the drive to Ravet in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the driver alleged that Goyal and her brother had a heated argument.

According to the driver, the journey later continued to Mumbai airport after Agarwal and several of his family members joined them from the Kiwale Lodha area. The planned Bali trip, however, was cancelled after Agarwal reportedly discovered that his passport was missing upon reaching the airport.

Crime

Tiger Shroff firing case: Crime Branch probes arrested women visit to Bandra Bandstand, suspects possible reconnaissance

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The Mumbai Crime Branch is investigating whether two women, Babita and Radha, arrested in connection with the firing at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car, conducted reconnaissance in Mumbai’s Bandra Bandstand area, where several prominent film personalities, including actor Salman Khan, reside.

According to a Mumbai Crime Branch official, the investigation revealed that the two women visited the Bandra Bandstand area after arriving in Mumbai. Investigators are now examining the purpose of their visit and whether they conducted reconnaissance of the residences of film personalities in the locality.

The official said the information about the women’s movements emerged from an analysis of their mobile phones and other technical evidence. However, investigators are yet to establish whether the visit was connected to any potential plan targeting film personalities.

The Crime Branch is also examining the alleged links of the arrested women with Anil Pandit, who remains absconding in the case. According to the police, the two women were in contact with Pandit, and their remand was obtained to question them further about the information that has emerged during the investigation.

Police officials said evidence recovered from the mobile phones of the arrested women indicated that they were aware of the purpose of their visit to Mumbai.

The police are also investigating whether the accused, most of whom are suspected to be originally from Haryana, received assistance from a local person in Mumbai. Investigators suspect that a local contact may have helped the alleged gang members execute their plan and are searching for the person.

According to the Crime Branch, eight of the 11 accused arrested in the case were directly in contact with the alleged main accused, Anil Pandit. Investigators are trying to establish the individual roles of the accused and determine how the alleged network operated.

Earlier, the Mumbai Crime Branch, in coordination with Madhya Pradesh Police, detained a suspect in Indore for allegedly providing logistical and financial support to a network linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with the October 18 firing incident.

Indore Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotia confirmed the detention, stating that it was carried out during a joint operation by the Mumbai and Indore Crime Branch teams. The latest detention took the number of accused apprehended in the case to 11, according to reports.

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Nepali gang arrested for murder of retired IPS officer’s wife in Hyderabad

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More than five months after Tanuja Ranjan, wife of retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ray Vinay Ranjan, was brutally murdered at their residence in Hyderabad, police on Monday arrested four Nepalese.

Those arrested include the domestic worker, Dharma Tiruwa alias Kalpana, who had worked at the victim’s residence.

The arrests were made following a five-month-long investigation spanning several states and the India-Nepal border.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar announced the arrests at a press conference.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing rising property offences committed by Nepali gangs across the three Police Commissionerates, arrested four accused near Nampally Railway Station on Monday (October 26).

Dharma alias Kalpana, 26, is from Surkhet district in Nepal. Ganesh B.K. alias Ganesh Bishwakarma alias Dinesh Thapa, 31, is a labourer who was residing in Pune; Chandra Bahadur Tamang alias Ranjeet Thapa alias Shanker Chandra Lama alias Kancha, 44, a cook whose listed Indian address is in Gurugram, Haryana; and Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, 37, a watchman who was residing in Pune.

Police said two other accused remained absconding and that teams were continuing efforts to trace them. The police had earlier arrested two other accused in the case.

Police said the accused entered the house in Prashasan Nagar on the night of May 7–8, restrained Tanuja Ranjan and smothered her. They allegedly escaped with 225 grams of gold jewellery and other valuables.

The police investigation revealed that Dharma came to Hyderabad in June 2025 through a relative and began working as a domestic help at the Jubilee Hills residence for a monthly salary of about Rs 20,000. During her employment, she allegedly remained in contact with Bikas, a Nepal national based in Pune, who repeatedly asked about her employer, the household’s assets and the valuables inside the house. He eventually proposed a robbery in return for a share of the proceeds. In April 2026, Dharma travelled to Pune to visit her ailing father and came into contact with other members of the alleged gang.

On May 4, when her employer left for Bengaluru, she allegedly alerted the group. The police account says Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, Shanker Chandra Lama and Sunil Pariyar met at Kalamboli in Raigad district, Maharashtra, on May 4 and travelled to Pune in a hired Maruti Ertiga. The next day, they met other alleged accomplices, including Ganesh B.K., before setting out for Hyderabad.

On the morning of May 7, Ganesh B.K. and Suresh Shahi allegedly met Dharma near her workplace, surveyed the premises and discussed how the group could enter the house. Two groups allegedly carried out the operation.

According to police, the gang assembled at Ravindra Bar near the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station area on the evening of May 7. It allegedly split into two groups under a plan devised by Sujan Shahi, also known as Suresh Shahi. One group, comprising Ganesh B.K., Suresh Shahi and Shanker Lama, was assigned to enter the house and carry out the robbery. The other, comprising Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, Sunil Pariyar and Netra Shahi, allegedly remained near Nampally railway station as a lookout team.

During the intervening night of May 7 and 8, Dharma allegedly opened the door to let the others in. Police said Tanuja woke up during the incident. The attackers allegedly gagged and restrained her, causing her death by suffocation. The group then searched the house, broke open cupboards and took gold jewellery and other valuables.

After leaving through the rear gate, the accused allegedly travelled to Nampally and joined the lookout team.

Investigation revealed that the group subsequently travelled towards Kazipet, moved into isolated hilly terrain and divided the stolen property into nine equal shares. Members then split into smaller groups, fled towards Nepal and disposed of the valuables at different locations.

On May 22, Task Force teams arrested Sunil Bahadur Aauji alias Sunil Pariyar and alleged receiver Dilip Bahadur Mijar alias Sonar. Police recovered 26 grams of the stolen property from them.

The investigation continued across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow and Uttarakhand. The SIT also carried out field inquiries near the India-Nepal border, spending more than five months gathering intelligence in remote and hilly areas.

Police said local informers helped the team track the suspects’ alleged hideouts, travel routes, employment and contacts.

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Crime

ED arrests Mumbai advocate linked to Rs 2.6 crore ‘digital arrest’ case of Goa couple

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The ED arrested a Mumbai-based advocate and secured his custody till October 29 from a Special Court (PMLA) in connection with the digital arrest of a Goa couple who were duped of Rs 2.6 crore and his association with a gang of cyber criminals, an official said on Monday.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, arrested advocate Rashesh Bharatkumar Upadhyay alias Rashesh Shah on October 24 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the official said in a statement.

He was intercepted at the boarding gate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, while attempting to leave Mumbai on an early-morning connecting flight to Delhi without any return booking, it said.

The interception was made possible by the active and timely support of Mumbai Customs and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Goa Police in a digital arrest fraud.

Fraudsters impersonating officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation placed the Goa couple under continuous video surveillance, showed her a forged order of the Supreme Court, and coerced her into transferring about Rs 2.6 crore into accounts falsely described as “Secret Supervision Accounts”, said the statement

The ED’s investigation traced these proceeds through more than 400 mule accounts into a network of commodity, travel and foreign-exchange companies controlled by Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed through dummy directors, the ED said.

This network undertook banking transactions of nearly Rs 28,000 crore and deposited about Rs 2,900 crore in cash. Its bank accounts have surfaced in over 300 victim complaints and more than 160 FIRs across 20 states and union territories, involving reported losses of over Rs 400 crore, the ED said.

Rashesh Upadhyay was a key node of this network. Whenever bank accounts of the network were frozen by law enforcement agencies on cyber fraud complaints, he arranged their release by paying cash bribes to certain suspected officials of the agencies concerned, routed through angadiyas.

He fixed the amounts, the collection points and the onward payments. On his own admission, he arranged the unfreezing of about 100 such accounts for various agents, including a payment of over Rs 60 lakh in a single instance, the ED said.

By restoring the network’s access to frozen fraud proceeds, he kept the money-laundering infrastructure behind digital fraud running across the country, the ED said.

He continued these dealings even after ED’s searches, including in respect of accounts frozen by the ED, deleted his chats with the co-accused, and switched off all his known mobile numbers before attempting to flee, said the probe agency.

Although enrolled as an advocate, he had never appeared or filed any vakalatnama for the co-accused or their companies. He misused his professional standing as a cover for brokering bribes and securing the release of fraud proceeds. Such conduct is not legal practice, and the protection available to communications between an advocate and a client does not extend to communications made in furtherance of an illegal purpose or showing the commission of a crime or fraud, the ED said.

This is the 7th arrest in the case. ED has earlier arrested six persons, including the two controllers of the network, Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed, and the agents who supplied banking entries to the network and arranged the release of its frozen accounts.

Further investigation is in progress to identify the officials who received the bribes, the angadiyas and other intermediaries involved, and to trace the full extent of the Proceeds of Crime.

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