In a new twist in the death of trekker Ketan Vishal Agarwal, Pune Police on Tuesday said that his death was not an accident but a murder as his fiancée and her male friend allegedly pushed him into a deep gorge.
According to the police, his fiancée and her friend have been detained and the investigation is on.
Agarwal, a 26-year-old man, was a resident of Gahunje near Pune. He was a director in his family's real estate company. He died on June 18 after falling into a 400-foot-deep gorge at the historic Lohagad Fort, police said last week.
He had gone to the fort to celebrate his upcoming birthday. On June 19, the police said that Agarwal lost his balance near a cliff amid fierce winds while he was taking photographs.
Accidental death to planned murder
Initially, a case of accidental death was registered. However, on Tuesday, police confirmed that his fiancée and her male friend pushed him into the gorge and tried to pass it off as murder.
"We have detained the fiancée and her male friend and are investigating the incident as a murder," the official said, declining to provide further details.
The motive behind the alleged murder has not been revealed by the police yet. Agarwal's body was retrieved from the difficult terrain after a three-hour rescue operation by cops and members of the Shivdurg Mitra Emergency Rescue Team, Inspector Dinesh Tayde of the Lonavala Rural police station said.
The police said that Agarwals were scheduled to get married in November, and the families had booked a palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan, for the wedding.
Lohagarh Fort is linked to the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire. It is one of 12 forts in Maharashtra listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.