Snehashish roy
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta has sparked a heated debate on social media after urging people not to subject Pune murder accused Siya Goyal to the same kind of “media circus” that actor Rhea Chakraborty faced following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020. While Gupta said he was not taking sides in the ongoing murder case, many social media users criticised the comparison, arguing that the two cases are fundamentally different.
The controversy began after Gupta shared a post on X addressing the intense public scrutiny surrounding Siya Goyal, who has been arrested along with her alleged boyfriend, Chetan Chaudhary, in connection with the death of her fiancé, Ketan Agarwal.
In his post, Gupta wrote that he was “not standing in judgement” or “taking sides”, but appealed to the public to avoid repeating what happened during the Rhea Chakraborty episode. Referring to the extensive media coverage surrounding the actor in 2020, he said people had witnessed a “trial-by-television” where public opinion formed before evidence had been examined. He concluded by saying society seemed incapable of learning from past mistakes.
Not standing in judgement. Not taking sides. Just saying — can we please stop doing to Siya what we did to Rhea?
We all watched that circus. The trial-by-television. The verdict before the evidence.
We never learn.— Sanjay Gupta (@_SanjayGupta) July 1, 2026
The post quickly attracted criticism, with many users accusing the filmmaker of drawing a false equivalence between two vastly different situations.
One user questioned how Gupta could compare Siya Goyal’s case with Rhea Chakraborty’s ordeal, pointing out that the Pune case involves a murder investigation in which the accused was allegedly present at the crime scene. Another wrote that Gupta was trying too hard to make an unnecessary comparison, while others dismissed the post as “rage bait”. Several users argued that although media trials are problematic, the circumstances surrounding both cases are not comparable.
The remarks come against the backdrop of the high-profile investigation into Ketan Agarwal’s death. The 25-year-old businessman initially appeared to have died in a trekking accident after falling from Lohagad Fort near Pune on June 18. However, police later alleged that the incident was a premeditated murder carried out by Siya Goyal and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary. Investigators claim the pair rehearsed the crime, searched online for ways to kill Agarwal and ultimately pushed him off the fort after multiple failed attempts. Both remain in custody as the investigation continues.
Rhea Chakraborty’s case, meanwhile, unfolded after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020. She faced relentless television coverage, intense public scrutiny and was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a drugs-related investigation linked to the case. In subsequent interviews, Rhea has spoken about the emotional trauma she experienced during that period and the lasting impact of being publicly vilified before legal proceedings had concluded.
Gupta’s post has reignited conversations about media trials and the responsibility of television channels and social media users when discussing ongoing criminal investigations. While many agreed with his broader point that people should avoid pronouncing guilt before a court verdict, critics maintained that invoking Rhea Chakraborty’s experience in the context of the Siya Goyal case blurred important distinctions between the two matters.