Mumbai: Eight years after the double murders of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, a sessions court on Thursday convicted her estranged husband Chintan Upadhyay and three others for conspiracy to murder. Additional Sessions Judge SY Bhosale convicted Upadhyay and Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradip Kumar Rajbhar, Vijay Kumar Rajbhar on Thursday.
Upadhyay has been convicted for abetment and conspiracy to murder. Raj bars, who hail from the same village, have been convicted for murder.
Special public prosecutor Vaibhav Bagade said that he would seek maximum punishment of death for the convicts.
In a murder case, minimum sentence is life sentence and maximum is death penalty.
The judge will hear arguments on the quantum of the sentence on October 7.
Prosecution case was that Hema and Bhambani were allegedly smothered to death by Vidhyadhar Rajbhar on December 11, 2015, with the help of other accused persons. He had killed the duo allegedly at Hema’s estranged husband Chintan Upadhyay’s behest.
The next day, a garbage collector discovered their bodies stuffed in cardboard boxes in a nullah in Kandivali.
Upadhyay was arrested on December 22, 2015, for the murders. Other accused to be arrested are Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradip Kumar Rajbhar, Vijay Kumar Rajbhar and a minor.
Upadhyay was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 17, 2021. Vidhyadhar, who allegedly executed the murders, is still untraceable.
