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Hema Upadhyay, Haresh Bhambhani murders: I am innocent; police tortured me to extract confession, says Chintan Upadhyay
Artist Chintan Upadhyay has claimed that he was tortured in police custody in order to confess that he conspired to kill his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay.
Artist Chintan Upadhyay has claimed before the Dindoshi sessions court that he was tortured in police custody to confess that he had conspired to kill his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay, who too was an artist, and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani.
“Police were unable to crack the case. Taking advantage of the fact that there was a matrimonial dispute between Hema and I, they made me a target and fabricated evidence to implicate me,” he said in his written statement submitted on June 9.
While in custody, Chintan said, the police had also threatened to implicate his father Vidhyasagar Upadhyay and his artist friends in the double murder case if he refused to give a confession. “I was assaulted and made to stand on my toes for hours. But I am innocent. I have not committed any offence.”
The statement, recorded under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, came in response to more than 800 questions that the court had framed for Chintan, seeking an explanation on the prosecution evidence against him.
Acting on Chintan’s instructions, the prime accused, Vidhyadhar Rajbhar, and others had on December 11, 2015, smothered Hema and Bhambhani, the prosecution claimed. They had packed the bodies in cardboard boxes and dumped them in a nullah in Kandivali. The next day, a garbage collector discovered the bodies and alerted the police, the prosecution added.
Chintan, however, claimed that he had reached Mumbai on December 13 soon after their maid servant informed him that Hema and Bhambhani had gone missing, and had gone to the Mumbai crime branch office in Kandivali.
He said crime branch officials interrogated him for days and on December 22, when he left their office, he was picked up by the Kandivali police and handcuffed within the compound which also housed the police station.
The artist further claimed that Rajbhar, who has been absconding, was known to him, as his father had worked for them – Chintan and Hema.
“Rajbhar used to work for Hema more than me. On December 2, 2015, I was in Mumbai, and I got a call from my father in Jaipur saying Rajbhar had come to meet me at our Jaipur house. I told my father that I had not called him, nor did I have any work with him, and if he had any work with me, he could meet me in Mumbai,” Chintan said.
The statement said theirs was a love marriage. “However, later on, the relation soured because of her (Hema’s) extravagant expenditures, different lifestyle, and conflict of opinions so much so that it became torturous to cohabit and therefore, I was compelled to file a petition for divorce in 2010 on grounds of cruelty.”
Chintan also claimed that immediately before the murders there were no disputes between him and his estranged wife, as the family court at Bandra had already granted him divorce and the matter had gone to the Bombay high court in appeal. “There was no occasion for any kind of dispute or displeasure or awkward moments between Hema and I.”
The court will hear the matter on Friday.
The prosecution has already recorded the testimonies of its witnesses. Now, the statements of the accused will be recorded and after that, the defence will be given an opportunity to submit evidence.
