Mumbai artist, lawyer found murdered and packed in cardboard boxes

Mumbai: The bodies of well-known painter and installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani were found packed in cardboard boxes lying near a drain in a Mumbai suburb, the police said Sunday.

The bodies of Hema, 43, and the 65-year-old lawyer were found late on Satur-day close to a drain in Kandivali, a senior police official said. The bodies, with hands and legs tied, were stuffed inside cardboard boxes before being wrapped in plastic sheets. The police was questioning Hema’s husband Chintan Upadhyay and servant Lalit Mandal till late Sunday night. Chintan was later learnt to be detained.

Police sources said officials had got some key clues and were hoping to solve the case in 24 hours. The police has got a lead that the bodies were brought there in a tempo. The tempo driver was nabbed and was also detained. The police suspects that a property dispute could be behind the double murder.

The Mumbai police indicated the investigation into the double murder was in its final stages, and indicated that a property dispute could be the reason behind the crime.
The police has formed two to three teams to work on the case, while one is investigating in Mumbai, another one has been sent out of the city. The police has registered a case under Sections 302, 201 and 34 IPC against unknown persons.

The bodies were packed in two cardboard boxes and dumped in the Kandivali drainage near Dahanukarwadi. These boxes were noticed by a ragpicker on Saturday evening, who informed the police. The police reached the spot later and sent the bodies for autopsy.

The police has checked the CCTV footage of Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri West, where Hema’s studio is located. In the footage, the police found Hema Upadhyay and Mr Bhambani at about 6.30 pm on Friday, a day prior to the recovery of bodies, left from her studio in the advocate’s Honda City car.

According to police sources, the advocate’s phone was active till 8.30 pm on Friday, when he received his last call, after which his phone was switched off, which made his daughter worried. Now officials are trying to identify this caller. The phones of both deceased, the grey Honda City car of Mr Bhambani and their  purses are still missing, and the police is searching for them.