An investigating officer gave his deposition before a Dindoshi sessions court on Tuesday in the double murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani. The victim Hema’s estranged husband Chintan Upadhyay is facing trial in the case. The officer said Chintan Upadhyay is an internationally acclaimed artist, when asked.
On being asked by a defence lawyer, he said he did not record any artist’s opinion on the aspect of the theme or type of art Chintan practices. He further said he did not take expert opinion, when asked.
The officer said that he had interrogated one of the accused Pradeep Rajbhar about a conspiracy meeting. The defence advocate suggested to him that he had fabricated evidence in the case. The officer denied this. The crime had come to light in December 2015. A scrap dealer had alerted police towards two cardboard boxes floating in a nullah. These boxes contained two bodies - of Upadhyay and Bhambani. Their hands had been tied behind their backs and mouths and eyes taped shut.