A Mumbai court on October 5 held famous artist Chintan Upadhyay guilty of the charges of murder for the sensational killing of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani.
Hema (43) and Bhambani (65) were found murdered on December 11, 2015.
Chintan and four others Azad Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and Vijay Rajbhar and Shivkumar Rajbhar alias Sadhu all part of a fabrication unit were arrested by the Mumbai Police.
Sessions Judge S Y Bhosale pronounced the judgement and scheduled the matter for sentencing on Saturday.
The prime suspect in the case, Vidyadhar Rajbhar, a metal fabrication artist, who the police claimed had carried out the murders at the behest of Chintan, has remained at large.
On 12 December, 2015, the offence came to light, when two bodies wrapped in plastic and packed in separate cardboard boxes were found dumped in an open drain at Dahanukarwadi in Kandivali here. The bodies were identified as those of Hema and Bhambhani.
Police had claimed that Hema and Chintan, married in 1998, were in a legal battle over divorce and alimony - for the past five years and there was dispute among them over a flat in Juhu.
The accused who carried out the killings were basically metal fabricators working for the couple.
The Supreme Court had granted bail to Upadhyay in September 2021.
