Mumbai, Jan 9 (Mumbai Mirror): A local court on Friday denied police the permission to conduct a narco analysis test on artist Chintan Upadhyay, arrested in connection with murders of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani, after he refused to give his consent for the procedure.

Advocate Amar Inder Mishra, who represented Chintan, said that the court rejected the application as Chintan did not give consent to the test. "We opposed the application saying that the police have not been able to find even an iota of evidence against Chintan, and that he has been implicated. The police have failed to back his arrest with any evidence and therefore, he opposed the narco analysis test." Chintan, accused of conspiring to kill Hema, a noted installation artist, and Bhambhani, was arrested on December 22 last year, 10 days after the bodies of the two, stuffed in cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic sheets, were found in a sewer in Kandivali.

Police have arrested Pradip Rajbhar, Vijay Rajbhar, Shivkumar Rajbhar and Azaad Rajbhar, all accomplices of prime accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar who is still on run, besides Chintan. The judicial custody of all the accused will end on January 11.

The court also rejected an application filed by advocate Vinod Gangwal, counsel for Hema's family, which sought initiation of perjury proceedings against one of Chintan's lawyers. The application was moved after the defence moved the court alleging that Chintan was being tortured in police custody. The allegations were found to be without merit.

Meanwhile, advocate Khurshid Ansari, who is representing the rest of the accused, said that one of the accused is a minor even though the police are treating him as a major, and recorded his age as 19. He said that they will be submitting documents to the court which prove that the accused is a juvenile and has to be tried under the juvenile law.