Pune: A Pune court on Friday remanded Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary, the two key accused in the suspected murder of builder Ketan Agrawal, to 14 days of judicial custody after rejecting the prosecution’s plea for an extension of their police custody.
The accused were produced before Wadgaon Maval Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) A M Vibhute following the expiry of their police remand on Friday.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Advocate Rajshree Birkud sought a three-day extension of police custody, contending that data recovered from the mobile phones of Goyal and Chaudhary contained chats in signs and coded language. Investigators argued that further custodial interrogation was necessary to decode the conversations and advance the investigation.
However, counsel representing the accused opposed the plea, arguing that the police had already been given sufficient time to investigate the case and that any further custodial interrogation was unwarranted.
After hearing both sides, the court rejected the prosecution’s request and remanded the accused to judicial custody till July 16.
The court also rejected the Pune Rural police’s request to subject the accused to polygraph tests after the defence opposed the move.
{{/usCountry}}The court also rejected the Pune Rural police’s request to subject the accused to polygraph tests after the defence opposed the move.
{{/usCountry}}The investigating agency had sought permission to conduct polygraph tests on Goyal and Chaudhary as part of its probe into Agarwal’s death. However, the defence lawyers objected to the application, making it clear that the examinations cannot proceed without the accused’s consent.