Artist Chintan Upadhyay was the main conspirator: Prosecution
The prosecution in the murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and advocate Harish Bhambhani on Friday submitted in its final arguments that Hema’s estranged husband, artist Chintan Upadhyay, was the main conspirator behind the double murder
MUMBAI: The prosecution in the murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and advocate Harish Bhambhani on Friday submitted in its final arguments that Hema’s estranged husband, artist Chintan Upadhyay, was the main conspirator behind the double murder.
The prosecution told the Dindoshi sessions court that Hema had found a painting of a woman resembling her in Chintan’s bedroom, with a macabre line written across it: ‘I will destroy you.’ The special public prosecutor Vaibhav Baghade submitted that Hema was apprehensive that her estranged husband was going to create a big problem for her. “Chintan principally hatched the conspiracy to kill both Hema and Bhambhani, since he hated them,” submitted Baghade. “He used his acquaintances to carry out the actual murder.”
According to the prosecution, Hema and Bhambhani were smothered to death by the prime accused Vidhyadhar Rajbhar—who is still at large—with the help of others at Chintan’s behest on December 11, 2015. The murderers packed the bodies in cardboard boxes and dumped them in a nullah in Kandivali. The next day, a garbage collector discovered the bodies and reported the matter to the police.
Baghade heavily relied on the testimony of Bhambani’s wife Poonam. “The evidence given by Poonam is very crucial to show the circumstances before the murder and also the motive behind the murder,” Baghade argued. “Poonam’s deposition spoke volumes about Chintan’s conduct before the untimely deaths of Hema and her lawyer.”
According to Poonam’s deposition, two days before the murder, Hema had visited Bhambani, who was representing her in the divorce proceedings initiated by Chintan. “Poonam said that during the meeting, Hema told them that she had found a picture of a woman who looked like her in Chintan’s bedroom. On the pic were written the words, ‘I will destroy you’.
Hema had taken a photo of the painting and showed it to Bhambhani. Unfortunately, her mobile was not found after the murder,” said the prosecutor. “But Poonam’s testimony on this is very important, and points to the fact that Hema sensed Chintan was up to something big.”
Poonam, in her deposition, said that a few days earlier, on December 8, 2015, Hema had received a call from the domestic help in Chintan’s Jaipur house. The help, Poonam said, had offered to give evidence, which Hema could use in the divorce proceedings, for a payment of ₹2 lakh. The help claimed that he had recorded videos of Chintan’s illicit relations with three women.
In the meantime, said Poonam, Chintan had given Hema a cheque of ₹2 lakh towards maintenance. Baghade argued that they found it suspicious that the servant had demanded ₹2 lakh, and Chintan had also given a cheque of ₹2 lakh to the victim. “This seemed part of the bigger plan to trap Hema so that she would not refuse the offer due to paucity of funds,” Baghade argued.
The prosecutor also referred to the deposition of the estranged couple’s domestic help, Lalit Mandal, who categorically said that Chintan never interacted with Hema (after their estrangement) even when he stayed in their Mumbai residence. However, on December 8, 2015, he said bye to Hema thrice while leaving for Delhi. “This was the first time he had said bye to Hema. Even Hema was shocked,” Baghade submitted.
Referring to the testimony of Bhambani’s daughter Anita, the prosecutor said that Chintan had called her to check if her father had returned home and if Hema had returned. “What was strange about the said call was that Chintan already knew that Hema and Harish had gone to Malad and were last seen there. This shows he had knowledge about the said meeting,” Baghade argued.
Baghade also pointed to the notes of the doctor who conducted the post-mortem of Hema and her lawyer. “The doctor specifically said that they were smothered. However, based on the evidence, injuries on the body internally and externally, it can be said that they were smothered by using tape. The tape was placed to stop the airflow inward,” Baghade argued, pointing out how the two were killed.
The prosecutor contended that the injuries on Bhambhani showed that he had struggled and resisted the accused persons while Hema seemed to have submitted to the force. “The evidence shows that there was a group of people who held both of them tightly,” he argued.
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