The murder investigation involving Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal has taken a new turn, with advocate Aashutosh Srivastava issuing a defamation notice to Sahil Goyal, the brother of prime accused Siya Goyal. Srivastava has accused Sahil of making false and defamatory statements that harmed his professional reputation and has sought ₹10 crore in damages.
The legal notice follows Sahil Goyal’s interview with India Today TV, in which he denied that the family had engaged Srivastava as Siya’s lawyer. Sahil also suggested that Srivastava may have obtained Siya’s signatures on certain legal documents through deception.
Citing these allegations, Srivastava’s notice describes Sahil’s remarks as false, misleading, and defamatory. It demands compensation of ₹10 crore, withdrawal of the statements, a public apology, and a written assurance that such allegations will not be repeated.
The disagreement also surfaced in court on Monday when Srivastava appeared before the Vadgaon Maval court claiming to represent Siya and submitted a vakalatnama allegedly signed by her. However, Siya informed the court that advocate Vipul Dushing was representing her. Her family also reiterated that Dushing had been officially appointed as her legal counsel.
Before the hearing, Sahil had publicly stated that Srivastava had neither been authorised nor appointed by the family. He claimed that the family had already engaged Dushing and had submitted an affidavit confirming the appointment. Sahil further alleged that Srivastava may have obtained Siya’s signature through deceit and accused him of threatening family members.
In response, Srivastava maintained that his legal team had approached Siya directly and that she had voluntarily authorised them to act on her behalf. He said Siya, being an adult, was fully capable of making her own decisions and had signed a vakalatnama granting his team authority to represent her up to the Bombay High Court.
While Srivastava’s allegations have now been formalised through the legal notice, Sahil Goyal has not yet publicly responded.
Meanwhile, investigators continue to seek custodial interrogation of Siya Goyal and her alleged boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary. Police told the court that the pair had previously visited Lohagad Fort to identify the location from which Ketan Agarwal was allegedly pushed.
The prosecution also said investigators are attempting to recover deleted digital evidence, verify the sequence of events, identify individuals who interacted with the accused based on CCTV footage, trace Agarwal’s missing passport allegedly discarded by Siya, and confront the accused with newly identified witnesses.
Police allege that Siya, 20, conspired with her 22-year-old boyfriend Chaudhary to kill Agarwal because she did not want to marry him and feared that cancelling the wedding would bring embarrassment to her family. Both have been arrested and charged with plotting and carrying out the murder by allegedly pushing Agarwal off a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune district.
