. (pinterest)
Lucknow: Lucknow police and UP special task force picked model Shraddha Dubey, her sister Rashmi Dubey and their driver in Nagpur with help from Nagpur Police. They are missing from the death businessman Shiva Sharma on October 9. The arrests end an eleven day manhunt that stretched from Lucknow to the Nepal border and then to central India.
Sharma, a cafe and restaurant owner in his late twenties, fell from the fourth floor of Awadh Green Apartments near Balu Adda in Hazratganj, where he was living with Dubey in a live-in relationship. The post-mortem report attributed his death to shock and haemorrhage caused by his injuries.
His mother, Ranjana Sharma, then went to the police, and a murder case was registered against Dubey, her sister Rashmi, driver Tanveer Ali (also called Danish), a man named Adil, and other unidentified people. One report says the case was registered under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the murder provision. Reports differ on the exact date the FIR was lodged, and the driver’s name appears as Danish, Tanveer and Tanvir in different accounts.
In the days after the death, more material surfaced. Two video clips showed Dubey questioning Sharma about stolen gold, with Sharma promising to pay the money back. Call recordings also showed tense exchanges between the couple, though reports note the recordings alone do not establish who was responsible for his death. Sharma’s family has made allegations of blackmail and physical abuse, which police are still looking into.
CCTV footage from a neighbouring apartment complex reportedly shows Sharma falling from Dubey’s flat. Dubey has a different account. She has said Sharma died by suicide and that her building’s CCTV will prove her innocence, calling the allegations baseless. That is her claim, and the court will have to test it against the evidence.
The hunt
Police formed several teams and put more than 20 mobile numbers under surveillance. Dubey’s vehicle was found abandoned in the Rupaidiha area of Bahraich, near the Nepal border, which led to speculation that she might have crossed over. The Lucknow Police first announced a reward of Rs 25,000 and later doubled it to Rs 50,000 for each accused. Other reports also mention that Dubey went missing again after a court appearance and that a senior police officer was removed from his post during the case. I could not confirm the details of those two points.
Officials from the UP STF and Nagpur Police were jointly questioning the accused at a police station, and the legal formalities were under way before they are brought to Lucknow. The UP STF is expected to take Dubey to Uttar Pradesh on transit remand.
Once in Lucknow, police will want answers on how Sharma came to fall, what happened in the flat that day, and why the three left the city. Dubey, her sister and the driver are accused persons, not convicts. Any guilt will be decided in court.
Copyright © 2026 Top Indian News
