Artist Hema Upadhyay murder case: Three accused sent to police custody till December 19

Mumbai police has identified the main suspect as Vidyadhar Rajbhar and a search for him...

Mumbai

: A Mumbai court on Tuesday sent three accused to police custody in the double murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani.

The Mumbai police has also identified the main suspect as Vidyadhar Rajbhar and a search is on for him.

Earlier, the police detained three persons, including a driver, from Vidyadhar Rajbhar’s warehouse. The police also nabbed Shivkumar, alias Sadhu, from Babatpura area of Badagaon, Uttar Pradesh, in a joint operation with the UP special task force. He will be handed over to the Mumbai police on Tuesday.

The bodies of Hema and Bhambani were recovered from a drain in Kandivali area on Saturday.

According to the police, Vidyadhar Rajbhar had been making replicas of paintings and exporting them for Hema and Chintan Upadhyay for several years. Officials suspect Vidyadhar was loyal to Chintan and this could be the reason for the murder.

Investigations have revealed that Vidyadhar called Hema, promising her evidence against her estranged husband Chintan, with whom she had been locked in bitter divorce proceedings. Sources have also said that Vidyadhar was allegedly angry with Hema over payment issues.

Sources have also informed Deccan Chronicle that Vidyadhar Rajbhar owns a warehouse in the Kandivali area and police officials suspect that Hema and Bhambani were killed in that warehouse.

Hema was cremated on Monday in the presence of several artists and family members in Santa Cruz. Chintan was escorted by the crime branch to the cremation ground. He was being questioned till Monday evening.

According to sources, the police was tipped off about these suspects when a Kandivali-based tempo driver approached them and said that the bodies which were dumped in the drain were transported in his tempo.

The tempo driver also informed the police that he stayed near the warehouse owned by Vidyadhar Rajbhar who often asked him to dump bags and boxes into the drainage.

According to sources, the police couldn’t find any reason behind the murder of Bhambani and believes that he was murdered because he was accompanying Hema.