On daughter's first birthday, cops waited for Gottu to come home

Chintan Upadhyay

Vidyadhar Rajbhar alias Gottu has always been one step ahead of the police. The fabrication artist who is alleged to have killed artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer, Harish Bhambhani, exactly a year ago, is the clinching evidence the police need of Hema's husband and artist Chintan Upadhyay having allegedly hired the hits, but his whereabouts are still unknown.

Artist Chintan Upadhyay at the funeral of his wife, Hema, last year. He is lodged in Thane jail for allegedly hiring the hit

He was traced to Chennai on February 2 and then to Assam eight days later. But the trail went cold thereafter.

Even his daughter's first birthday on September 13 couldn't lure him back to his Charkop home. "We expected him to turn up for it. We had policemen in plainclothes in all lanes. But, he didn't," says a crime branch officer. The police even kept tabs on the family's banks accounts. "After the family sold a room in their one-room-kitchen house for around R35 lakh, we looked out for any suspicious activity. But he hasn't been in touch with his family," says the officer.

Read Story: For families of Hema Upadhyay and Harish Bhambhani, life hasn't moved on

The only time Vidyadhar reached out was on February 2, when he called up a cousin in Surat from Chennai. The police rushed to Chennai, but found that he had moved on to Assam. "We haven't been able to trace his phone number since February 10," says the officer, who feels Vidyadhar is displaying the deftness of a seasoned criminal.

Vidyadhar Rajbhar

The police suspect that he is either holed up in Nepal or Bangladesh, has committed suicide or is settled in Tamil Nadu, which offers ample opportunities for fabrication.

Feb
Last time cops had a trace of Gottu when he called a relative in Surat from Chennai