Pune, June 26 (IANS) Ujjwal Nikam, Rajya Sabha MP and the then government prosecutor who won stringent punishments for the convicts in the 2008 Mumbai attack and 1993 Bombay bombings, will be the special public prosecutor in the Ketan Agarwal murder, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday.

The announcement was made after Ketan’s father, Vishal Agarwal, met the CM in Pune and sought justice for his son, an official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Fadnavis accepted the family’s demand to send the case to a fast-track court and approved the appointment of senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor in the case, said the statement.

The chief minister directed the secretary of the Law and Judiciary Department to initiate the necessary process for the appointment, while Nikam has conveyed his consent to appear as the special public prosecutor, the statement said.

The Chief Minister assured the family of Ketan Agarwal, who was allegedly pushed to death from Lohagad Fort by his fiancee and her lover on June 18, that the government would ensure strict punishment for those responsible and spare no effort in securing justice.

Ketan’s fiancee Siya Goyal (20), and her lover Chetan Chaudhary (22), are accused of pushing Ketan off a cliff at Lohagad Fort, located in Maval taluka of Pune district.

According to police, Siya and Ketan (25) were scheduled to get married in November, but she did not want to marry him. Siya and Chetan allegedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Ketan, the police said.

During his meeting with Ketan’s father, Fadnavis assured him that the government was committed to ensuring that the accused in the case get stringent punishment and that every effort would be made to secure justice, an official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

–IANS

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