Artist Hema Upadhyay, lawyer found murdered in Mumbai

Well-known painter and installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani were found murdered in a Mumbai suburb, with their bodies stuffed inside cardboard containers, the police said on Sunday.

The bodies of Hema, 43, and Bhambhani, 65, their hands and feet tied with ropes, were recovered from near a drain in Kandivali last night, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer involved in the probe said the bodies were in "semi-naked" condition.

Hema was estranged from her husband Chintan Upadhyay, also a painter, and the couple was locked in bitter divorce proceedings since 2010.

Police questioned Chintan, besides her driver and domestic servants, Kulkarni said, clarifying nobody has been detained so far in the case.

"The police has not detained anybody yet and are only making inquiry. The police is quizzing those people who were in touch with Hema and her lawyer," added Kulkarni. An earlier report attributed to police had said three persons had been detained.

The bodies were stuffed inside cardboard boxes before being wrapped in plastic sheets that were sewn up, sources said. The bodies have been sent for autopsy and findings are awaited, they said.

According to some reports, a domestic help of Hema had lodged a missing complaint with Santa Cruz police station on Saturday after she did not return home all Friday. The family of Bhambhani had also filed a missing complaint with Antop Hill police station since he did not return home after having told them he was going to meet a client.

DCP Zone 11, Vickram Deshmane, who is probing the case, refused to confirm whether Hema's domestic help or Bhambani's family had registered missing complaints.

The police said Bhambhani's car, in which he had left for the meeting, is still to be traced.

The Baroda born artist had in 2013 filed a case against Chintan, alleging he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her. Bhambani had represented Hema in the case.