Hema Upadhyay murder case: Neighbours recall key accused Vidyadhar as reclusive

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai Dec 19, 2015 : Neighbours of Vidyadhar Rajbhar, the prime accused in the double murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, recalled him as a reclusive who mostly kept to himself.

 

Vidyadhar, who is on run, was a resident of Charkop in suburban Kandivli (west) and used to stay in a rented flat with his wife, mother and sister in a two-storey building.

"Vidyadhar shifted here with his family four months back.

Though our interaction with Vidyadhar was very limited, he seemed to be a very simple person and used to keep to himself.

We never had any problem with him," said Yagnesh Jatwal, who runs a tailor shop, opposite to Vidyadhar’s building.

Jatwal recalled that Vidyadhar had distributed sweets to his neighbours after birth of his daughter four months back.

"His sister used to visit my shop for tailoring work," he said.

Jatwal said Vidyadhar was last seen on Saturday, the day when bodies of Hema and Bhambhani were found packed in cardboard boxes covered with plastic sheets in a drain in Kandivli.

Another neighbour said that police sealed Vidyadhar’s flat on Sunday morning.

"A large crowd had gathered here on Sunday morning and when I came here, I found police sealing his flat," he said.

Police have so far arrested Vijay Rajbhar, Azad Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and Shivkumar Rajbhar alias ’Sadhu’ in connection with the double murders.

Meanwhile, a police official said they are tracking Vidyadhar’s location by putting his mobile phone under surveillance.

"We are trying to trace him, but he has switched off his mobile phone," he said.

Police had on Tuesday said that Vidyadhar’s last location was traced to Itarsi railway station in Madhya Pradesh and that he may surrender soon.

Meanwhile, Hema’s lawyer Vinod Gangwal said the deceased’s family has already named Chintan Upadhyay, Hema’s estranged husband, in their statement and that police are "duty-bound" to include his name in the FIR.

"If police do not do that (include Chintan’s name in FIR), we will approach court," he said, adding that the police should have recorded statement of the family immediately after the murder came to light and not after four-five days.

 

Courtesy: Mid-Day