Chintan 'guilty' in murder case that rocked art world

Eight years after the sensational murders of one of India's leading artists, Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, a sessions court in Mumbai on Thursday convicted Hema's estranged husband, artist Chintan Upadhyay, for conspiracy.

- Charul Shah

While the main accused, Vidyadhar Rajbhar, in charge of the fabricating unit where the murders were executed, remains absconding, three others, Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Vidyadhar Rajbhar and Pradip Rajbhar, have been convicted for murder, destruction of evidence, and breach of trust.

The investigators relied on Call Detail Records, a confession from Pradeep Rajbhar, which was subsequently Tetracted, and Chintan's personal diary and drawings to establish motive for Hema's murder.

In one of the notations in his diary in 2010, Chintan weighed his options: "If I move to Delhi what I lose (sic):

"I love connecting with Mumbai.

But what connections do I have?

a.My house
b.Friends: Sanjiv, Khalid, Rizvi, Amit
c.Driver: Suresh
d.Fabricator: Bansraj
e.Town"

Below this list, he wrote in all caps, as if to convince himself: "MOVING TO DELHI FOR SURE-before August 1."

The MS University-trained artist was one-half of Mumbai art world's "It Couple". Feted, his large, fabricated baby heads superimposed with colourful paintings, reminiscent of the miniature works from his home state Rajasthan, featured in several collectors' homes. There was little that wasn't seemingly going his way. What few people knew then was that as their careers soared, Chintan and Hema Upadhyay, an artist of even greater renown, were embroiled in a bitterly acrimonious battle. Their furious fights and his divorce petition prompted his move to Delhi.

Fours year later, a family court granted the couple divorce in 2014, saying the wild allegations they made against one another proved "the essence of their marriage had gone". The court also ordered Chintan to pay an alimony of ₹16.51 lakh. However, Hema Upadhyay subsequently challenged the family court's ruling. "I was thinking about my divorce and why Hema who doesn't care for me wants to take revenge and punish he wrote in his diary.