News

Murdered artist Hema Upadhyay's ex-husband arrested

by IBNS 22 Dec 2015, 07:49 am

Mumbai, Dec 22 (IBNS) Slain artist Hema Upadhyay's former husband Chintan, who was under the police vigil in connection with the double murder, was arrested on Tuesday, said media reports.

 Hema Upadhayay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani were recently murdered and their bodies were stuffed inside two cardboard cartons and dumped in a drain in Kandivali in Mumbai.

Chintan Upadhyay had earlier said that although they were estranged, he still loved his wife, and that they had no problems.

Media reports quoted Chintan as saying that whatever  financial disputes they had during the divorce proceedings were also amicably settled.  "When we had filed for divorce, there would sometimes be a dispute over the Juhu flat. Hema had demanded several times that she get the flat, but I never refused her. I always told her that we should sell the flat and divide the money equally," Chintan reportedly  told the Crime Branch officials.

He said that while he lived in Delhi, whenever he came to Mumbai, he would spend time at Hema's home. "We did not have problems with each other. Many times, she asked me for money, and I always helped her. Even on the day they went missing, I paid Rs. 2 lakh to her lawyer, Harish Bhambhani, as per the court order on alimony," added the artist husband.

The police were earlier probing his connection with the main accused in the case, Vidyadhar Rajbhar, who runs the art godown where Hema and Harish were killed.