MUMBAI: The Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested three more people in connection with the double murder of installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambani but have not yet stumbled upon any clue to the whereabouts of prime suspect, Vidyadhar Rajbhar alias Gotu.
The trio were produced before the metropolitan court which remanded them in police custody till Saturday. The Special Task Force of UP Police had arrested one suspect Shivkumar alias Sadhu Rajbhar from his village near Varanasi on Monday. One among the other three has been identified as Vikas Rajbhar, the tempo driver who had carried the bodies to a drain where the killers had dumped them. Interestingly, it was Vikas who had tipped off the police on the location of bodies. He had told them that he carried the boxes containing the bodies because he was told that they contained damaged antiques.
The other two accused, Azad Rajbhar and Pradeep Rajbhar, are workers at the same warehouse where Upadhyay and Bhambani were allegedly killed and stuffed in boxes. The workers have been employed at the warehouse for over three years. Vikas regularly transported paintings and other items from the warehouse.
DCP Vikram Deshmane confirmed the arrest of the trio. “We have received their custody. We are looking for the prime suspect now,” he said. The police want to get hold of Vidyadhar Rajbhar to verify claims of the other accused that there was a dispute between Upadhyay and Vidyadhar over a payment of Rs 5 lakh. They have told the police that Upadhyay had refused to pay Vidyadhar the amount, which he had claimed for a fabrication work.
A police officer said Vidyadhar had called Upadhyay under the pretext of settling their dispute. The police believe the killers must have carried the bodies at least 200 metres out as there was no direct approach to the warehouse where the murders took place for vehicles.