Three arrested over death of Lucknow hotelier Shiva Sharma, questioned for six hours

The death of Lucknow hotelier Shiva Sharma has caused a stir across Uttar Pradesh and the country. The mystery of his death has not been fully solved, but the links that have now emerged in what happened on the night of October 9 have shaken people.

Lucknow Police arrested the main accused, Shraddha, her sister Rashmi and driver Danish. After the arrests, the three were questioned rigorously for about six hours. What the accused revealed left even the police stunned.

According to information received, Shraddha had been continuously blackmailing Sharma to extort money. It is alleged that she had kept some objectionable private photographs of Sharma and used them to make him do her bidding. On the night of October 9, she called him to her flat on the fourth floor of "Awadh Green Apartment" in Hazratganj. It is alleged that he was held captive there.

It is said that on that night, in the locked room, Shraddha and her associates inflicted severe physical and mental suffering on Sharma. According to the allegations, at Shraddha's instruction Sharma was stripped of all his clothes and beaten, and lipstick marks were smeared across his body. He was forced to dance naked in front of everyone. It is also alleged that Shraddha made him massage her feet and humiliated him in this way. He was also burnt with a cigarette to break him. It is being said that Shraddha derived "sadistic pleasure" from tormenting Sharma in this way, and that she did all this in front of her sister.

The investigation has found that Shraddha, her sister Rashmi, driver Danish, a woman who works in the house and Shraddha's close friend Aamir were all present at the flat that night. Earlier, in police questioning, these people had concealed the fact that Aamir was there.

According to the police, Shraddha often blackmailed people by flaunting her acquaintances and her photographs with senior officials. She had saved all these photographs in a secret pen drive.

The police say Shraddha used to go with her group to smoke hookah at a cafe in Lucknow's Kisan Bazaar. It was there that she lured rich young men into her trap. Sharma and Shraddha had also met at that cafe.

As soon as Shraddha and her associates were caught, the owner of the cafe shut the shop and fled. Lucknow Police are searching for the owner intensively. The police suspect that the cafe owner may also be an important accused in the case.