Mumbai: A sessions court in Mumbai on Tuesday sentenced artist Chintan Upadhyay and three others to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of his former wife Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani.
On October 5, the Dindoshi Court Additional Sessions Judge SY Bhosale held Upadhyay guilty of criminal conspiracy and abetment of murder. He and three others, namely Vijay Rajbhar, an autorickshaw driver, Pradeep Rajbhar, a helper and Shivkumar Rajbhar were ordered life imprisonment today.
All four have been charged under sections 302 (murder), 396 (dacoity), 201 (destruction of evidence), 109 (abetment) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Chintan told court that he is innocent but is ready to accept whatever punishment the court decides. He said that his conscience is clear and he has not committed any crime. His lawyers claimed that he was being made a scapegoat.
In 2015, a scrap dealer spotted two large cardboard boxes floating on a drain in Dahanukarwadi area of Kandivali and informed the Kandivali police. It was revealed that the boxes contained two bodies that were identified as Hema and Harish. Soon after which, Chintan was arrested.
After his arrest, Chintan filed many petitions for bail in the Bombay Sessions Court and Bombay High Court. However, he did not get bail. Finally, Supreme Court granted him bail in 2021.
Investigations revealed that property dispute following Chintan's divorce with Hema led the former to murder his ex-wife. Chintan's lawyers argued that the artist did not have any motive to kill Hema since they had already got divorced and he had paid a huge amount as maintenance.
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