A year on, Hema-Harish double murder key accused still at large

A year has passed since the murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Hemant Bhambhani, but the police have not been able to nab key accused Vidhyadhar Rajbhar.

A year has passed since the murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Hemant Bhambhani, but the police have not been able to nab key accused Vidhyadhar Rajbhar. As per police officials, his last location was recorded in Assam on February 10 this year. For nearly 10 months after February, the police have not got even a single clue where Vidhyadhar is.

Hema Upadhyay’s family had announced a reward of Rs1 lakh for information on Rajbhar

Sources said Rajbhar has been changing his mobile handset and phone number so police could not trace his location. Earlier the police had traced Rajbhar’s location after the murder to Madhya Pradesh and later in Chennai when he spoke to his mother and lawyer to get advice.

Initially, police were hoping that Rajbhar will surrender to the police but after the chargsheet was filed, it does not look like he will do that, said a crime branch source.

Kandivli police have deployed police personnel to keep watch on Rajbhar’s family members, which seems to be the only way to trace him, but now they too have gone silent. The crime branch has no option but to wait and watch as there are no fresh clues. The case is being investigated by the crime branch unit 7.

Close friend of Hema’s family had even announced a reward of Rs1 lakh for information on Rajbhar. Hema’s family had sought permission for the move from the Mumbai police and had circulated posters with Vidyadhar’s new and old photos across and outside the city.

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