Killer took photos of Hema’s corpse, suspect said in March

MUMBAI: In a confession to the magistrate, Pradeep Rajbhar — who now says it was given under duress — said Chintan Upadhyay promised Vidhyadhar Rajbhar Rs20 lakh

MUMBAI: In a confession to the magistrate, Pradeep Rajbhar — who now says it was given under duress — said Chintan Upadhyay promised Vidhyadhar Rajbhar Rs20 lakh to kill artist Hema Upadhyay. Pradeep described how Hema and her lawyer, Haresh Bhambhani, were killed at the Charkop warehouse on December 11, 2015.

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Pradeep confessed on March 8. However, in June, he filed an application before the sessions court stating that the confession was extracted under duress.

“Vidhyadhar had a handkerchief, on which he poured something. He told me to hold Hema Madam. I, Vidhyadhar, Shivkumar, Vijay and (the minor accused) got down, one at a time. Vijay switched off all the lights. I held Hema and Vijay pressed the handkerchief against her nose. Shivkumar and (the minor) held the man and Vidhyadhar pressed the handkerchief against his nose,” Pradeep said in his confession recorded under section 164 of the CrPC.

“Bhambhani bit Shivkumar on his left hand. During the struggle, Vidhyadhar suffered mild bleeding on his forehead after he fell against the corner of a table corner,” added Pradeep.

“Vidhyadhar wrapped a tape around the man’s hands, legs, mouth and eyes. He also fixed a tape around Hema. She became conscious, so Vidhyadhar pressed the handkerchief to her nose again. After some time, I put my hand on her neck and noticed she was not breathing. I told Vidhyadhar that Hema and the man were dead.” Pradeep said after Hema died, Vidhyadhar removed the tape and took pictures of her with his phone.

Pradeep told the magistrate how Chintan instructed them to lure Hema to the warehouse. “On 8th December 2015, Vidhyadhar came to Bansraj Art Company and called me and Vijay downstairs. He told me Chintan bhai called us to Chembur.”

He added that Vidhyadhar asked him and Vijay, the tempo driver, to switch off their mobiles prior to meeting Chintan. Vidhyadhar had a new Nokia phone, he said. The trio reached Chembur at 6.30 pm, where Vidhyadhar called Chintan from his new phone.

“I told Chintan I was unemployed and that I badly needed money. Chintan told me that he had work for me. If I did it, he would pay me a large sum. He told me to call Hema and tell her that I am Mahendra Gupta, a cook who works at the bungalow at Jaipur. He told me to tell her that I had three video clips of Chintan sleeping with a girl,” the confession read.

“Chintan told Vidhyadhar ‘Agar tum Hema ka kaam kardoge toh tumhe bees lakh de dunga’ (If you do the work, I will give you Rs 20 lakh). Vidhyadhar told me the work referred to murdering Hema.”

Pradeep told Hema she could have the video clips for Rs 2 lakh. On December 12, Vidhyadhar paid Pradeep Rs2,000 and Azad Rs1,000. He asked Pradeep to hide the bottle, handkerchief and half the burnt tape.