Chintan Upadhyay, artist Hema’s husband, had paid Rs. 2 lakh to her lawyer Harish Bhambhani on Friday, the day both went missing, Mr. Upadhyay’s lawyer told The Hindu on Sunday. He paid the money as part of the alimony payout as per the court order.
The Kandivali police are investigating whether the payment is connected to the murders. The location where the bodies were found has also foxed investigators, as no one that they have spoken to so far has been able to shed light on how they met in Andheri, but their bodies were found in Kandivali.
“We are checking the Call Data Records to trace their movements from the time that they left their respective houses, as well as to find out who they interacted with during this time. Inquiries are also being made with their friends and family,” said a senior police officer.
Police said the nature of the murders suggests more than one person was involved in the murder. “The use of force by multiple persons is clear from the fact that duct tape was wound around their faces so tightly that it caused bleeding when it was removed. Two able-bodied adults could not have been overpowered so easily by one or even two persons,” said an officer who is part of the investigating team.
The sequence of events put together by the police indicates that Hema and Harish were intercepted somewhere between Andheri and Kandivali and taken to a pre-decided location, which had to be secluded enough for the killers to be able to kill both of them and then pack their bodies in cardboard boxes.
The separation
Born Hema Hirani in Baroda, she married Chintan in 1998. Twelve years later in 2010, he filed for a divorce, which came through in 2014.
She appealed against the divorce in the High Court and filed an application asking for alimony. At the last hearing, the court directed Mr Upadhyay to pay Rs 4 lakh to Hema. He was able to raise Rs 2 lakh by Thursday that he paid by demand draft to her lawyer on Friday. “The matter was to come up for hearing in January or February 2016,” said Mr Upadhyay’s lawyer, Niteen Pradhan. Harish was representing Hema.
Mr Upadhyay moved to Delhi last year, while Hema stayed on in Mumbai in the Juhu house where the couple once lived together.
‘Fantastic people’
Their friends and associates do not recall bitterness in the couple’s relationship. Bose Krishnamachari, known artist-curator, recalls “Hema and Chintan” from as long back as 1996 when he had first met them.
“They would come over to my place and hang around,” Krishnamachari said. He said the couple earlier lived in Vasai and then Borivali before moving to Juhu. “Both are fantastic people,” he said. He recalled he had met Hema about a month ago at a friend’s get-together in Borivali, a WhatsApp group catalysing this meeting of old associates.
And then there was the sad coincidence of her death’s timing. Krishnamachari, who was in Kochi-Muziris Biennale until Saturday, said it was just last year when Hema’s work was showcased at the same event. “She was also among the artists who had supported the Biennale fund raiser,” he said.
Shireen Gandhy of Chemould Art Gallery said: “She was my darling artist. She was hardworking. She was not timid, but not outgoing either,” she said, adding she was “an artist to the last bone of her body”. An associate, who did not wish to be identified, said while there was anger, Hema had an underlying respect for Mr Upadhyay. And he too respected her, he said.
Also Read: >'Her art spoke volumes about diaspora, longing'
(With inputs from Roli Srivastava)