As the investigation continues into the murder of Pune realtor Ketan Agarwal, the police are planning to conduct a gait analysis of the arrested accused, Chetan Chaudhary. Police told the court on Monday that they plan to compare the CCTV footage capturing his movements at the Lohagad Fort with a recreated video.
What is Gait analysis? A police official told PTI that Gait analysis is the study of a person’s walking pattern, and it is used to identify suspects from CCTV footage by comparing distinctive characteristics such as stride length, posture, and limb movements.
The Pune rural police are planning to compare the CCTV footage showing Chaudhary’s movements at the fort with a recreated video, he said.
According to the police, the analysis became necessary as Chaudhary wore a hoodie to cover his face on the day of the crime on June src8, in an attempt to hide his face from being seen on CCTV cameras.
He said police will recreate the CCTV camera footage by making him wear a similar hoodie and walk at the same spot on the fort in a similar manner.
“We are planning to conduct a gait analysis of Chaudhary. We have CCTV footage showing him walking while wearing a hoodie to hide his face. The gait analysis will compare his locomotion in the CCTV footage with the recreated video to determine whether the walking patterns match,” he added.
Custody of Chetan Chaudhary and Siya Goyal extended On Monday, the two accused, Chetan Chaudhary and Siya Goyal, were produced in the court after their initial police custody ended.
Investigators sought an extension of their custody, arguing that various aspects like the exact spot of the crime on the fort and the victim’s missing passport should be probed.
The prosecution told the court that the probe had shown that the duo had visited the fort to determine the spot to push Agarwal off the cliff.
“Police want to question both the accused on this aspect, and hence the extension of custody is needed,” said assistant public prosecutor Rajashri Virkud.
She told the court that the accused repeatedly met at various locations to hatch the murder conspiracy, and the police want to investigate in detail.
“The accused deleted digital data that constitutes crucial evidence; the process of recovering this data is currently underway. Once retrieved, this data will serve as the basis for a thorough interrogation of the accused,” the court was told.
A reconstruction of the sequence of events, based on Goyal’s statement, was conducted on June 28. The sequence of events must now be verified with Chaudhary, the prosecution said.
“During the incident, both the accused interacted with certain individuals at Lohagad Fort. Based on CCTV footage obtained, a thorough investigation regarding the crime needs to be conducted with the accused in the context of these interactions,” the prosecution added.
The prosecution told the judge that Goyal didn’t want to travel to Bali with Agarwal for a pre-wedding shoot. She allegedly removed his passport from his bag and discarded it somewhere at Khalapur food mall in Raigad district during their journey from Pune to Mumbai.
“Therefore, the deceased’s passport needs to be located and recovered with the assistance of Goyal,” the prosecution said.
It further stated that certain important witnesses have recently come forward during the investigation, and they will be confronted with the accused, and their statements will be verified.
Advocate Vipul Dushing, a lawyer representing Goyal, argued before the court that her arrest was illegal and without any valid grounds.
Chaudhary’s lawyer, Ram Shahane, said his client’s role in the FIR is very limited and undefined.
The court on Monday extended the custody of the duo till July 3.
Ketan Agarwal murder Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill Ketan Agarwal and pushing him off a cliff at the Lohagad Fort in Pune district on June src8.
Siya Goyal was engaged to Ketan Agarwal in February, and they were scheduled to marry in November. According to the police, she was in a relationship with her co-accused and did not want to marry the victim.
The duo then planned to eliminate the victim by pushing him down the Lohagad Fort to make it look like an accident.
Key Takeaways
Gait analysis serves as a sophisticated forensic tool in criminal investigations. The investigation sheds light on the complexities of personal relationships influencing criminal behavior. The presence of missing evidence can significantly alter the course of a murder investigation.
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