Hema's ring, vehicle used for carrying bodies found: Police

Mumbai, Dec 20: The city police investigating the double murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani on Saturday, Dec 19, told a court here that they have recovered a ring worn by Hema at the time of murder and also the vehicle in which their bodies were transported.

The police gave this information to a magistrate in Borivali when three of the arrested accused -- Vijay Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and Azad Rajbhar -- were produced in the court, which extended till December 22 the police remand of the trio.

They informed the court that the tempo, which was used in transporting the victims' bodies, and Bhambhani's car have been recovered and would be examined.

The bodies in cardboard boxes were carried in the tempo from the Kandivali art workshop-cum-warehouse of Vidyadhar Rajbhar, the prime accused in the case, who is still at large. The bodies were found in a drain in Kandivali last Saturday.

The investigating officer also told the court a ring worn by Hema (43) at the time of murder has been recovered and the charge of robbery has been added in the FIR. B

Besides the trio, Shivkumar Rajbhar alias 'Sadhu' has been arrested from Varanasi and is also being interrogated by the police. His custody ends on Tuesday. Hema's husband Chintan Upadhyay has been questioned by the Crime Branch.

Meanwhile, Hema's cousin Deepak Prasad, while replying to queries, said, "It is the police's job to investigate the case. We don't want to intervene in the investigation and are providing the police with the clues and information that we have."

Hema, a Baroda-born installation artist, was locked in bitter divorce proceedings with Chintan, a contemporary artist. She had in 2013 filed a case against him alleging that he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her.

65-year-old Bhambhani had represented Hema in this case. The police had said Vijay Rajbhar had transported the bodies in a tempo from the warehouse of Vidyadhar in Kandivali (W) to a drain in Kandivali.

According to the police, bodies of Hema and Bhambhani, with their hands and feet tied with ropes, were recovered from the drain on Saturday night after locals and a ragpicker first spotted two card board boxes and informed the cops.

PTI