Hema Upadhyay, Harish Bhambhani murders were planned in advance

The crime branch, which is investigating the murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, have said the plan to kill both was hatched two months prior to the killings

Hema Upadhyay

The crime branch, which is investigating the murder case of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, filed a supplementary chargesheet of around 200 pages on Tuesday. In it, the police have said that they suspect the plan to kill Hema and Harish was hatched two months prior to the murder.

The statement of witness Rizwan Sayyed, which has been attached to the chargesheet, says that in October 2015, he received a call from absconding accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar, asking him to make two wooden boxes for a few statues he wants to export. Sayyed charged Rs 15,000 for three boxes and told Rajbhar that he will deliver it to his shop, to which Rajbhar said he will get a tempo and take them once they're ready. On October 30, 2015, Rajbhar collected the box. He gave Sayyed two cheques and both bounced.

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Another statement is that of Rajbhar's brother-in-law, Ramyash Rajbhar. On February 1, 2016, he received a call from Rajbhar and identified his voice. Rajbhar asked about his mother, wife and kids. When Ramyash asked Rajbhar to surrender before cops, he disconnected the call. He tried calling on the same number thrice but it was switched off.

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An alleged sketch by Chintan with 'I will destroy you' written on it had been previously presented as circumstantial evidence to prove his involvement, but the crime branch has said in the chargesheet the image was not found. Meanwhile, Chintan's lawyer Bharat Manghani filed an application in the court regarding the omission of statements given by Chintan's friends and brother to the Kandivali police from the chargesheet. The application says the investigating officer should be directed to place the statements along with the entire investigation.

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