Mumbai: Two mutilated bodies found in Kandivali drain on Saturday belong to famous contemporary artist and painter Hema Chintan Upadhyay and her advocate Harish Bhambhani, the police said on Sunday.
The police said the main suspect, Gotu, is the owner of a Charkop warehouse where Hema used to store her works. The motive, sources said, could be a dispute over Rs. 5 lakh between the two.
The artist and advocate’s last known cell phone locations were at towers between Charkop, where the godown is, and Kandivli, where the bodies were found. Both phones were switched off at 8.30 pm on Friday.
The police have formed three teams to hunt for the godown owner. Two of these teams are searching for the suspect outside Maharashtra. The suspect’s driver and two workers have been detained so far. The bodies were spotted on Saturday by a rag-picker.
The major breakthrough in the case came due to the truck driver who drove the alleged killers and the bodies packed in cartons to the spot where it was disposed.
The killers had told the driver they wanted to dispose of “some waste material” and asked him to stop at the spot.
When he saw the papers in the morning, the trucker realised that the spot from where the two bodies were discovered was exactly where he was asked to stop the truck the previous night. He informed his employer, who contacted an acquaintance in the police department. The police said the trucker will be their main witness.
The police have registered a case under Sections 302 (murder) 201, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Earlier on Sunday, the Kandivali police called Chintan Upadhyay for questioning. The couple filed for divorce some years ago and Bhambhani was representing Hema in the family court.
Hema had returned from Dubai just days before her murder. She had gone there with fellow artists for the opening of an art gallery, where some of her works were displayed.
Hema was a local girl from Vadodara while Chintan came from Jaipur.
