Shivkumar Rajbhar was arrested in Uttar Pradesh.
By Dileep Thekkethil
A combined operation of the Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh police has put an end to the run of Shivkumar Rajbhar, the key accused in the double murder of Mumbai-based artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani.
According to the police, Shivkumar Rajbhar, alias Sadhu, murdered photography and sculptural installations specialist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani in Mumbai and disposed their bodies in cartons in a drain in suburban Kandivali on Saturday night.
Confirming the arrest of the main accused in the double homicide, Station Officer Shashi Bhushan Rai said to The New Indian Express that Rajbhar was arrested near his village of Kavirampur early on Monday.
“A joint team of Mumbai Police and UP STF carried out the arrest. The local police did not have much of a role. A transit remand will be prepared and he will be taken to Mumbai,” he said.
Circle Officer (Baragaon) Santosh Mishra said: “As per initial information, a nominal amount of cash and some ATM or other such cards, which reportedly belonged to the victims, have been recovered from the accused. We are not in a position to comment on the case.”
An STF official also confirmed weapons used for murdering the duo were recovered from the accused.
The bodies of Upadhyay and Bhambhani were recovered from a drain in Kandivali area of Mumbai, stuffed inside two cartons. The police couldn’t recover any evidence to prove the identity of those semi-naked bodies but a truck driver, who took the cartons from a warehouse and dumped it in the drain, oblivious of what was inside it, later gave the tip off to the police.
According to report in the DNA, Rajbhar called Upadhyay supposedly to give evidence against her husband Chintan Upadhyay, also an artist. Both were involved in various legal issues, including divorce.
Hema’s and her Bhambhani last known cellphone locations were at the towers between Charkop and the Kandivali godown. The phones were switched off at 8.30 pm.