Model Shraddha Dubey, sister and driver arrested in Nagpur over Lucknow restaurateur Shiva Sharma's death

Model and social media influencer Shraddha Dubey, the main accused in the death of Shiva Sharma in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested in Nagpur. Her sister Rashmi Dubey and their driver Tanveer Ali alias Danish were also arrested.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Tarun Gauba said the arrests are linked to the death of restaurant owner Shiva Sharma.

According to available information, the Uttar Pradesh Police's STF and Nagpur Police detained the three on October 20 from near a building in Nagpur's Beltarodi area. The three accused were then medically examined.

Uttar Pradesh Police are expected to take transit remand of the three today and take them to Lucknow. The Uttar Pradesh team that has come to Nagpur has no woman constable. Shraddha Dubey and Rashmi Dubey are both women accused, so the three will be taken to Uttar Pradesh only after Uttar Pradesh Police women constables reach Nagpur.

On October 9, Shiva Sharma died after falling from the fourth floor of a building in Lucknow. Suspicion was raised and the matter was referred to the police. The police investigation later found that it was not merely an accident but murder.

Since then, Shiva Sharma's friend, the model Shraddha Dubey, her sister Rashmi Dubey and their driver Danish had been absconding. Two days ago, on October 19, the three had reached Nagpur in a hired car from a hotel in Kanpur.

On this information, and after receiving word from Uttar Pradesh Police, the Nagpur Police crime branch traced the car that had come from Uttar Pradesh to the Ganesh Peth area of Nagpur. The car's driver said he had dropped the three in Ganesh Peth. A search for the three then began across Nagpur. It was eventually learnt that they had travelled from Ganesh Peth to the Chichbhuvan area in an e-rickshaw.

Shiva Sharma's mother has welcomed the arrests. Ranjana Sharma called Shraddha Dubey's arrest "the first step towards justice". She also thanked Uttar Pradesh Police, the Special Task Force (STF) and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for their efforts.