Hema murder case: Tempo driver applies for bail
The tempo driver who dumped the bodies of Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani has applied for bail claiming false implication. In his application, the driver has claimed that he had no knowledge about the bodies inside the cardboard boxes which he transported from the workshop to the nullah. The driver, Vijay Kumar Rajbhar, 40, a resident of Kandivali, was arrested along with the other accused in December, after the police found out that his tempo was used to dump the bodies.
In the chargesheet, the police have claimed that Vijay was part of the conspiracy along with Vidyadhar Rajbhar and the other accused and he knowingly transported the bodies to dispose of the evidence. According to the police, the murders were committed by Vidyadhar and three accomplices, namely Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and another accused who is a juvenile, in Vidyadhar’s workshop. Vijay was roped in to dump the bodies and a witness has given a statement placing him near the crime scene on the day of the murders.
However, Vijay’s family has claimed he had nothing to do with the murders. According to his wife Saroj, Vijay often transported idols and other art from Vidyadhar’s workshop in Kandivali to various places. However, he was not directly employed by Vidyadhar. On the night of the murders, she says, Vidyadhar called Vijay to the workshop and asked him to take two cardboard boxes containing some broken material and dump them in a nearby drain.
In the chargesheet, the police have claimed that Vijay was part of the conspiracy along with Vidyadhar Rajbhar and the other accused and he knowingly transported the bodies to dispose of the evidence. According to the police, the murders were committed by Vidyadhar and three accomplices, namely Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar and another accused who is a juvenile, in Vidyadhar’s workshop. Vijay was roped in to dump the bodies and a witness has given a statement placing him near the crime scene on the day of the murders.
However, Vijay’s family has claimed he had nothing to do with the murders. According to his wife Saroj, Vijay often transported idols and other art from Vidyadhar’s workshop in Kandivali to various places. However, he was not directly employed by Vidyadhar. On the night of the murders, she says, Vidyadhar called Vijay to the workshop and asked him to take two cardboard boxes containing some broken material and dump them in a nearby drain.
Then some plainclothes policemen came to his house and took Vijay away. It was only when the family approached the police that they learnt that Vijay was an accused. Vijay’s father Ramadhar said that the family has been in dire straits since the arrest, as Vijay was the sole breadwinner. The bail application will come up for hearing at the Sessions Court in Dindoshi today.
