Lucknow / Nagpur: Eleven days after she vanished from the city, influencer and model Shraddha Dubey was picked up in Nagpur, ending a chase that stretched from Uttar Pradesh to the Nepal border and on to Maharashtra. Her sister Rashmi Dubey and driver Tanveer Ali, who also goes by Danish, were arrested with her. A joint team from Lucknow Police, the UP Special Task Force and Nagpur Police found them in a flat on Wardha Road at around 3.30 pm on Tuesday.
The case began on the night of October 9, when 27-year-old Shiva Sharma, a Lucknow cafe owner and Dubey’s alleged live-in partner, fell from the fourth floor of her rented flat in Awadh Green Apartment, Hazratganj. His family says he was beaten and pushed. His mother, Ranjana Sharma, filed a complaint that led to an FIR under the murder provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, naming Dubey and others.
By then, police say, the three had already left. Their vehicle was last seen near King George’s Medical University around 8 pm, and by early morning they had covered roughly 218 km to Rupaidiha, on the Indo-Nepal border in Bahraich. A Scorpio registered in Dubey’s name was later found abandoned nearby. Investigators believe the group crossed into Nepal around 7 am, hours before the FIR was formally registered.
They reportedly spent about a week there, keeping communication to a minimum and moving from place to place. After returning through Kushinagar, they travelled via Raebareli, briefly turned up again around Lucknow, stayed at an Agra hotel where CCTV picked up vehicle movements, and finally reached Nagpur.
Police say Dubey made the chase harder by using her phone as little as possible, changing vehicles and modes of transport often, choosing hotels with little surveillance and frequently wearing a burqa in public. An associate allegedly helped her get a phone and a SIM card under a false identity. Officers also said her apparent familiarity with investigative methods prolonged the hunt.
Several teams worked the case. Non-bailable warrants were issued, and a reward, first ₹25,000 and later raised to ₹50,000 per accused, was announced for information. Call records, toll plaza and hotel CCTV, coordination along the border and technical surveillance slowly narrowed the search. Tips and digital traces finally led to the Nagpur flat, which belongs to an acquaintance, and a coordinated raid followed.
While she was still on the run, Dubey gave media interviews denying any role. She said Sharma’s death was a suicide linked to financial stress and insisted she was not absconding. The interviews drew criticism of the police, and action was taken against several Lucknow officers.
On Wednesday, a Nagpur court granted three-day transit remand, and the accused were brought to Lucknow for questioning. ADG (Law and Order/STF) Amitabh Yash and other senior officials confirmed the operation and spoke of the difficulty of tracking people who never stayed put and kept hiding. Police say the investigation into what happened on October 9 is still open. They are examining the scene, digital records, statements, alleged earlier disputes, financial angles and possible associates.
All of the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, and the allegations remain to be tested.
The case has drawn wide public attention, both for how quickly the trio disappeared and for the effort across agencies that finally closed the 11-day chase in Nagpur.
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