Chintan, three others get life for Hema, lawyer double murder

Additional sessions judge SY Bhosale rejected the prosecution’s appeal that Chintan and the three others - Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradip Kumar Rajbhar and Vijay Kumar Rajbhar - should be sentenced to death for the murders. The court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Chintan, ₹15,000 each on Pradip and Vijay and ₹10,000 on Shiv Kumar

MUMBAI: The Dindoshi sessions court on Tuesday sentenced artist Chintan Upadhyay and three others to life imprisonment for murdering his estranged wife, artist Hema Upadhyay, and her lawyer, advocate Harish Bhambhani.

Mumbai, India - Oct 10, 2023 : Sentencing likely in Double Murder Hema Upadhyaya and her Advocate Haresh Bhambhani Murder Case accused Artist Chintan Upadhayay with Three other accused, namely, Vijay Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and Shivkumar Rajbhar outside Dindoshi Court before the pronouncement of order at Dindoshi Court, Goregaon, in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Oct 10, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

Additional sessions judge SY Bhosale rejected the prosecution’s appeal that Chintan and the three others - Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradip Kumar Rajbhar and Vijay Kumar Rajbhar - should be sentenced to death for the murders. The court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Chintan, ₹15,000 each on Pradip and Vijay and ₹10,000 on Shiv Kumar.

Life imprisonment would entail actual imprisonment of at least 14 years, after which the convicts may be entitled for remission. The court clarified that all the convicts will be entitled to set off the period they had already spent bars before being convicted. While the Rajbhars were arrested in December 2015 and have been behind bars since then, Chintan was initially arrested on December 22, 2015 and was released on bail on September 23, 2021. He was again taken into custody on October 5, when the court held him guilty.

According to the prosecution, Hema and advocate Bhambhani were smothered to death on December 11, 2015, after which the bodies were packed in cardboard boxes and dumped in a nullah in Kandivali West. The next day, a garbage collector discovered the bodies and alerted the police. Investigation revealed that the murders were executed by Chintan’s art fabricator Vidyadhar Rajbhar, who is still at large.

On March 8, 2016, Pradip’s confessional statement was recorded by a metropolitan magistrate, unravelling how the purported conspiracy was hatched by Chintan, and how Vidyadhar and his accomplices executed it.

In its case against the accused, the prosecution has relied on the confessional statement of Pradip wherein he purportedly admitted the role of Chintan. Besides, the prosecution has also relied on paintings and sketches drawn by Chintan, which allegedly depicted his hatred towards Hema and also his diary where he wrote about his feelings.

The prosecution also relied on CCTV footage where Hema and her lawyer were seen entering Rajbhar’s fabrication unit where they were allegedly killed. The footage also showed the boxes with the bodies being kept in the tempo for disposal. To prove the connection between Chintan and other accused, the prosecution submitted Call Detail Records.

Chintan had, however, denied all the allegations and claimed that he was being made a scapegoat. His lawyers Raja Thakare and Bharat Manghani contended that Chintan had no reason to eliminate Hema as his divorce plea had already been granted and he had already paid a major chunk of the maintenance amount. A family court had granted the couple divorce in 2014. The court had also ordered Chintan to pay an alimony of ₹16.51 lakh. Hema had subsequently challenged the family court’s ruling.

His lawyers contended that there was no evidence of the alleged conspiracy meeting which is said to have taken place in Chembur nor was there any other evidence to prove that Chintan was behind the murders.

The lawyers for the other accused, Anil Jadhav and Hassan Ali Mooman had questioned the admissibility of Pradip’s ‘confession’, saying it was not voluntary and he had already retracted it.