Artist Chintan Upadhayay ‘pioneer of conspiracy’ to kill wife, her lawyer: Prosecution

Special Public Prosecutor SPP Vaibhav Baghade made the submissions before S Y Bhosale, additional sessions judge, Dindoshi court.Hema and Bhambhani were killed on December 11, 2015, and their bodies, stuffed in cardboard boxes, were thrown into a ditch in suburban Kandivali.While prime accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar is on the run, Chintan was arrested on suspicion of having hatched the conspiracy to eliminate his estranged wife.

Artist Chintan Upadhyay was the “pioneer of the conspiracy” to murder his wife Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani and was driven by “hatred” towards the duo, the prosecution told a court here on Friday during the final arguments of the 2015 double murder case. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Vaibhav Baghade made the submissions before S Y Bhosale, additional sessions judge, Dindoshi court.

Hema and Bhambhani were killed on December 11, 2015, and their bodies, stuffed in cardboard boxes, were thrown into a ditch in suburban Kandivali.

While prime accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar is on the run, Chintan was arrested on suspicion of having hatched the conspiracy to eliminate his estranged wife. He is now out on bail.

“Chintan principally has hatched the conspiracy,” said the prosecution. The artist was the “pioneer of the conspiracy” to kill Hema and Bhambhani. “He was carrying hatred against them,” the SPP said.

Baghade submitted that Chintan used his acquaintances, like co-accused Vijay Rajbhar, for the conspiracy to eliminate Hema and her lawyer.

To drive home its points, the prosecution cited the deposition of witnesses, including Bhambhani’s wife and daughter.

Days before she went missing, the prosecution said, Hema had gone to meet her lawyer Bhambahani, where his wife Poonam was also present. During the meeting, she expressed apprehension that Chintan was planning something big, the prosecution said, referring to Poonam’s testimony.

Citing Poonam’s deposition, the prosecution said Hema had told her that Chintan, who also has a house in Jaipur, would stay in Mumbai for a day or two during his visits to the city but at that time – December 1, 2015 – he had stayed for 7 to 8 days.

Hema had shared her concern with Poonam about Chintan’s extended stay as she apprehended that Chintan would create some huge problem for her, the prosecution said. Hema had also disclosed that when she met Chintan for the last time, he had told her “goodbye” thrice, the SPP said. This left Hema with the feeling that Chintan had made some “big” plan, possibly to kill her, the court was told.

Poonam had further deposed that Hema had told them that a person claiming to the house help at Chintan’s Jaipur home had called her. The man told Hema that he had some evidence that could help in her divorce case against Chintan and wanted Rs 2 lakh for it.

Around the same time, the SPP said, Chintan had transferred Rs 2 lakh towards maintenance before leaving for Delhi on December 8, 2015.

The prosecution said this was not a “simple transfer, but part of some foul play”.

The SPP submitted that the murder of advocate Bhambhani was not accidental as he was present on the spot with Hema, but was also a part of the conspiracy as Chintan “in writing had expressed strong hatred” for the advocate.

“Till now I’m canvassing only to the point of knowledge of conspiracy,” the SPP said. The arguments will continue on Monday (June 26).

Police have claimed that Chintan plotted the murder of his estranged wife as he apparently wanted to get rid of the court cases that he was fighting with her. Currently out on bail, Chintan is facing trial for charges under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (murder). Chintan, who claimed to be an internationally acclaimed artist, has said that the Mumbai police were unable to crack the case and hence falsely implicated him taking advantage of his marital dispute.