According to police sources, Vidyadhar's movements were on police radar till January this year. His location was outside Maharashtra. The police sources claimed that Vidyadhar was in touch with his family and friends.
Vidyadhar Rajbhar, the prime accused in the double murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay, 43, and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani, 65, is still on the run. Vidyadhar is an important link in the case, as the police still do not have clarity on the motive that led to the murder. Also, Vidyadhar's testimony is important to authenticate Hema's husband Chintan's role in the case.
According to police sources, Vidyadhar's movements were on police radar till January this year. His location was outside Maharashtra. The police sources claimed that Vidyadhar was in touch with his family and friends.
However, he frequently kept changing his locations, making it difficult for the police to nab him.
"During custody, Hema's husband Chintan did not reveal much and we wanted to cross verify the information he told the police in custody, for which we wanted to get a narco-analysis test done on him. Our teams are working hard to nab Vidyadhar. Once he is caught, we would grill him to ascertain minute aspects of the murder. The motive behind the murder is still unknown; once Rajbhar is arrested, there should be some clarity on it," an officer said.Hema's husband Chintan did not reveal much and we wanted to cross verify the information he told the police in custody, for which we wanted to get a narco-analysis test done on him. Our teams are working hard to nab Vidyadhar. Once he is caught, we would grill him to ascertain minute aspects of the murder. The motive behind the murder is still unknown; once Rajbhar is arrested, there should be some clarity on it," an officer said.
Police investigations revealed Vidyadhar had told Hema that Chintan's servant from Jaipur has videos of his boss with other women, which can be used against him in the legal battle against Chintan. The police then tracked the servant believed to be working with Chintan in Jaipur. The servant reportedly told the police that he was completely unaware of any videos involving Chintan. "This goes to show that the video was a concocted story, just to bring Hema to a place where she could be murdered. One of the reasons which could have driven Vidyadhar to commit the crime appears to be that Chintan had given Rs6 lakh to Vidyadhar, which the latter was unable to repay. Chintan then told Vidyadhar to commit Hema's murder and he would not ask for his money in return," said an officer privy to the investigation.
What had happened
Bodies of Hema and Bhambhani were found stuffed in boxes in a nullah in Dhanukarwadi area of Kandivli on December 12 evening. The two had reportedly gone missing on December 11 and missing complaints of both of them were registered at Santa Cruz and Matunga police stations respectively by their relatives. Police probe revealed that they were last seen leaving together from Upadhyay's studio located at Veera Desai Road in Andheri (W). Upadhyay had filed for divorce with her estranged husband in 2010 accusing him of domestic violence. The family court had passed a decree in favour of Chintan which Upadhyay had challenged in Bombay High Court and Bhambani was representing her. The celebrated artist couple were in news when in 2013 Upadhyay had filed a criminal case against Chintan for sketching obscene paintings on the wall of their bedroom.
As it happened
December 11 - Celebrated artist Hema Upadhayay left her residence in the morning and headed straight to her studio at Laxmi Industrial Estate at Veer Desai Road in Anheri (West)
December 11 (6.30pm) - Haresh Bhambani, lawyer of Hema, left his residence at King's Circle, informing his family that he has a meeting with a client at Andheri
December 11 (6.30pm) - Hema makes a call to her servant Mandal, instructing him not to make dinner for her
December 11 (8.30pm) - CCTV footages collected from Laxmi Industrial Estate show Bhambani and Hema leaving the studio premises in Bhambani's white coloured Honda City car
December 11 - When Hema did not return till late night, Hema's servant Mandal made several calls to her mobile which went unanswered. At the same time, even Bhambani's family were making desperate attempts to get in touch with him
December 12 - At the wee hours of Saturday, both Mandal and Bhambani families registered missing complaints with Santa Cruz and Matunga police respectively
December 12 - The Kandivli police were informed by some conservancy workers that two huge boxes were found floating in the nallah at Dhanukarwadi
December 12 - The Kandivli police reaches the spot to find two unidentified bodies in the boxes. The police register a case of murder and starts their investigation
December 13 - The Kandivli police confirms the identity of the two bodies after their respective families identify them
December 13 - The Mumbai police detain three suspects in connection of the double murder case
December 13 - The Mumbai crime branch questions Hema's husband Chintan Upadhyay
December 14 - The Mumbai police, in a joint operation with Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, arrest Shivkumar Rajbhar from Varanasi in connection of the case. The police recover ATM cards and credit cards belonging to Hema and Bhambani
December 15 - The Kandivli police arrest three more accused in connection of the case and launch a manhunt for the main accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar
December 22 - The Kandivli police arrest Chintan for alleged conspiracy and destruction of evidence
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