Mumbai double murder: Hema Upadhyay's estranged husband Chintan arrested

The bodies of well-known painter and installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani were been found packed inside cardboard boxes lying near a drain in suburban Mumbai, the police said on 13 December. The duo had been reported missing since 11 December. The bodies of Hema, 43, and the 65-year-old lawyer, were recovered close to a drain in suburban Kandivali, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said. The bodies were packed tightly in cardboard boxes and were dumped in a drain in the Kandivali suburbs. Vikram Deshmane, a senior police officer is quoted as saying, “It is a clear case of murder. We will find out the cause of injuries only after the post-mortem report comes out,” said senior Mumbai police officer Vikram Deshmane. In the latest update to the case, Hema Upadhyay’s husband, Chintan was arrested on 21 December. The Vadodara-born artist was estranged from her husband Chintan, also an artist, and the couple had filed for divorce. Bhambani, 65, was representing her in the case. According to DNA, artist Chintan Upadhyay was brought to Kandivali police station late on Monday night, following which he was arrested. [caption id=“attachment_2544240” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Hema Upadhyay. Twitter/DailyO[/caption] In 2013, Hema filed a harassment case against Chintan, alleging he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai. Bhambani had appeared for her in the case. The Hindu earlier reported that the divorce was filled with bitter allegations and counter-allegations and quotes Niteen Pradhan (Chintan’s advocate) saying that Hema had filed an application seeking alimony, the hearing for which was scheduled next year. According to India Today, earlier four suspects had been detained in relation to the murders. Uttar Pradesh police detained two people in Varanasi. The police also seized some personal belongings of the victims — identity cards, ATM cards and other things - from the suspects, whose identities have not been disclosed yet. The duo is believed to have helped main accused Sadhu Rajbhar in the murder and disposal of the bodies. According to Zee News, Vidya Rajbhar, one of the main suspects in the case is still at large. The bodies were first spotted by local sweepers who thought there was something wrong.  According to a previous report on  Zee News, a police officer involved in the probe has said that the bodies were found in a “semi-naked” condition. “As per our probe, their bodies were transported in a tempo from suburban Juhu to Kandivali (W),” said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni. In this connection, police has also quizzed the transporter, who confirmed that he dumped the two boxes in a nallah in Kandivali on Saturday afternoon thinking that it contained broken antiques. The statement of the transporter has been recorded, they said. Also, police on Saturday recorded the statement of the watchman at Hema’s apartment in Juhu Tara Road and her domestic servant Lalit Mandal. DNA reported that Bhambani’s hands were tied and his mouth was gagged with a cloth and had cello tape, while Hema’s was just wrapped in a plastic sheet.  NDTV reported that the bodies bore injuries, with the hands and feet tied up. According to The Hindu, doctors who conducted the preliminary examination of the bodies said that death occurred three to four hours before the bodies were found. Mid Day reported that the truck driver who drove the alleged killers and bodies from the warehouse to the spot where the bodies were disposed off had tipped the police off, after noticing the story in newspapers. The driver said that the killers has said that they wanted to get rid of waste. With inputs from PTI