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Double murder: police to probe if money changed hands

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Press Trust of India Mumbai
The police would be scrutinise the financial transactions of artist Chintan Upadhyay and Vidyadhar Rajbhar, the prime accused in the Kandivali double murder case, to find out if any money was paid for the killings.

Chintan is under arrest for the murder of his wife and famous installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani, while Vidyadhar Rajbhar is on the run.

Financial transactions of both Chintan and Vidyadhar will be examined to determine whether money changed hands for the killings, a senior police officer said here.

Vidyadhar Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and Shivkumar Rajbhar carried out the killings whereas Vijay Rajbhar and Azad Rajbhar helped them, the probe so far has revealed. Except for Vidyadhar, all others have been arrested.
 

Shivkumar and Vidyadhar had kept others in the dark about their plan to leave the city, the officer said.

The double murder came to light on December 12 following recovery of the bodies from a drain in suburban Kandivali, after which Shivkumar and Vidyadhar left the city without informing the others, the officer said.

The duo first went to Dadar station where they didn't get the right train. They then went to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and boarded a train for Delhi.

They got down at Etarsi in Madhya Pradesh, where Vidyadhar allegedly asked Shivkumar to go home and handed him 24 debit and credit cards of Hema and Bhambhani.

Vidyadhar also told Shivkumar that he will surrender after returning to Mumbai. Shivkumar was later nabbed by a joint team of Mumbai police and UP police's STF in Varanasi.

Police have also found that Chintan had met Vidyadhar, Vijay and Pradeep at a hotel in suburban Chembur a week before the murders.

While Chintan is remanded in police custody till January 1, others' police custody will end on December 28.

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First Published: Dec 25 2015 | 8:48 PM IST

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