Key accused in Hema Upadhyay murder case arrested

In a major breakthrough in the Hema Upadhyay murder case the Mumbai Police, along with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, have arrested accused Shivkumar Rajbhar alias 'Sadhu'.

Rajbhar was arrested from the Kavirampur village under the Badagaon police station in Varanasi.

According to our sources, this is the first arrest since the gruesome murder came to light.

What is the murder case?

On the evening of 12 December, Mumbai Police found two dead bodies in city's northern suburb Kandivli. The bodies have been identified as those of well-known artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani.

The bodies were found stuffed in cardboard boxes and it appeared that they had been strangulated.

Upadhyay's body was reportedly found with her hands tied and the deceased were stripped to their undergarments.

The police was informed about the bodies by a sweeper who had noticed the boxes in a drain next to a crematorium in the Dhanukarwadi area.

A case of murder was then registered against unknown persons.

Who was Hema Upadhyay?

The deceased artist used photography and sculptural installations to explore notions of dislocation and nostalgia.

Her work has been exhibited in several international exhibitions, including the MACRO Museum in Rome in 2009.

She also won annual awards from the Gujarat Lalit Kala Academy and the national Lalit Kala Academy. She was also a recipient of a national scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources.