Mumbai double murder: Truck driver alerted police about alleged killers, says report

A truck driver provided the breakthrough in the double murder case of Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, according to a Midday report.

The bodies of Hema (43) and Bhambhani (65), their hands and feet tied with ropes, wrapped in plastic and stuffed inside cardboard containers, were recovered from near a drain in Kandivali on Saturday night, after reportedly being spotted by a rag-picker.

When he read the news of the bodies being found, the truck driver alerted his employer that he had been asked to help dispose some 'waste material' to the same spot the previous day, the report says. The driver had reportedly driven the alleged killers from a godown to the spot.

The police were then informed and the truck driver could be their main witness, the report adds.

A Rs 5 lakh dispute with Gotu, the owner of the Charkop warehouse, where Hema stored her work, is being investigated as a possible motive.

Hema was also locked in a bitter divorce battle with her estranged husband, artist Chintan Upadhyay, since 2010. The Baroda-born artist had in 2013 filed a case against Chintan, alleging that he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her. Bhambani had represented Hema in the case. 

Also Read: All you need to know about artist Hema Upadhyay