Hema-Bhambani Murder Case: Police Took Advantage of Matrimonial Discord, Claims Chintan

Mumbai: Artist Chintan Upadhyay, accused in the double murder case of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambani, has told a sessions court in his final statement to it that the police took advantage of their matrimonial dispute, targeted him and fabricated evidence against him.

The artist stated this in his four page statement submitted before the court. The trial in the case has concluded and the case is in the fag end. The court last week recorded Upadhyay’s statement under Sec 313 of the CrPC. 

Matter came to light in Dec 2015

The incidents came to light in December 2015 when a scrap dealer had alerted the police about two cardboard boxes floating in a nullah. These boxes contained bodies, later identified as those of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Bhambhani. Chintan and three others are facing trial in the case while one accused is absconding. The artist is accused of paying the co-accused for the crime. He was at the time embroiled in a matrimonial dispute with Hema.

In the written submission Upadhyay, who secured bail in 2021 after six years in jail, said that police framed him as they could not crack the case. The statement said that the Kandivali police beat him with sticks, belts, fist blows, he was made to stand on his toes for hours and starved after he was handcuffed and pushed into a lockup. The policewanted him to confess to the crime, but he did not break, he said. He stated further that police threatened him that his father and some of his artist friends would be arrested for assisting him in the crime if he did not confess. 

Speaking about his relationship with Hema, he said that theirs was a love marriage which got strained later due to certain issues and he was compelled to file for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. He said the family court passed a decree of divorce in his favour in 2014. He said he had paid her Rs16 lakh in alimony, was in the process of paying her the monthly maintenance as per the Bombay High Court’s order of Oct 2014 and just four days before her unfortunate demise, had paid her Rs2 lakh as maintenance.

Dec 2015

A scrap dealer alerted the police about two cardboard boxes contain bodies of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Bhambhani floating in a nullah 

2021

Chintan secured bail after six years in jail

Chintan said that his was a love marriage which got strained later due to certain issues

2014

Family court passed a decree of divorce in his favour