Mumbai crime branch gets artist Chintan Upadhyay's temporary custody to unlock iPhone

Artist Chintan Upadhyay who is presently lodged in Thane central prison on charges of murder of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambani will be sent to temporary custody of Mumbai crime branch.

Unit VII of Mumbai crime branch which is presently investigating the double murder case had sought permission from Dindoshi Court so that they could analyse Upadhyay's iPhone which is locked using a passcode. The passcode used to open the phone remains with Upadhyay and the crime branch team has been unable to open it to further investigate the case. FSL also sent a report to crime branch that the passcode of the phone was needed as they couldn't crack it and multiple attempts could lock the phone making it impossible to access it later.

According to sources, other than a passcode lock, the phone also has a fingerprint lock which has made it impossible for the crime branch team to analyse the phone and its data. Officials believe that once the phone is accessible, they might get some more crucial information regarding the conspiracy and execution of the murder. The public prosecutor submitted an application with the court which granted temporary custody of Upadhyay to the crime branch despite opposition from Upadhyay's lawyer.

Upadhyay was arrested on December 22, 2015 by Kandivali Police in Mumbai after bodies of Hema and her lawyer Bhambani were found dumped in a drain at Kandivali in cardboard boxes on December 12. Four workers working at a fibre workshop were arrested for the murder while their employer Vidyadhar Rajbhar on whose orders the murders were executed at his workshop in Charkop is still on the run. Upadhyay had served 14 days custody earlier which is the highest number of days a murder accused can be held in police custody.

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Hema Upadhyay's estranged husband Chintan Upadhyay arrested for her murder

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