Distraught friends throng police station

MUMBAI: When, a couple of days ago, missing person complaints were registered about artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani at separate police stations in the city, their friends and family members were fearful for their safety, but kept hoping they would show up. The news of their brutal murders came as a shattering shock.

As the news spread amidst family members and relatives, a few of them gathered at the Kandivli police station on Sunday morning. “I could not believe my ears when Chintan called me to tell me Hema was no more, and that her body was found in a drain at Kandivli. I had not been in touch with her for a long time after Chintan and she got separated,” said a common friend of Hema and Chintan’s, who did not want to reveal his name.

Hema’s friends, who knew her as a talented artist who won many laurels, were appalled. “This is so shocking. She was doing very well for herself, and had even won an award recently. Her parents who live in Vadodara were informed, and her elder brother Manish has come to Mumbai,” said one of Hema and Chintan’s mutual friends at the police station.

Well-wishers were shocked that a decorated career was brutally cut short. “People spend 15 to 20 years to make a name in this profession. Hema had made hers. This brutal incident has sent shock waves in the artists’ group,” said Rajmore, an artist.

Hema, a native of Vadodara, came to the city around a decade ago, and started living with Chintan at Mittal Ocean View building on Juhu Tara Road in the plush Juhu area. Five years ago, she separated from Chintan, after which he moved to Delhi; their divorce is pending in court. Police sources said apart from the divorce issue, they have also been fighting a case over some property, in which Bhambhani was representing Hema.

Chintan came to the city on Sunday morning after he heard that Hema and her lawyer had been killed. The crime branch has been recording his statement. The police have picked up several people, and are questioning them to get leads in the case, said a crime branch officer.

People spend 15 to 20 years to make a name in this profession. Hema had made hers. This brutal incident has sent shock waves in the artists’ group. RAJMORE, artist