Lucknow, Oct 15 Fashion model and social media influencer Shraddha Dubey, accused of involvement in the alleged murder of Lucknow cafe owner Shiva Sharma, has claimed that the businessman committed suicide and that she wants to appear before the police.
In a video, Shraddha purportedly claimed that Sharma, who was under heavy debt, jumped off her apartment’s balcony. Another purported recording shows him admitting to stealing her jewellery worth around Rs 6 lakh.
Multiple videos of Sharma and Dubey surfaced on social media platforms between Wednesday and Thursday.
Shraddha Dubey, Sharma’s alleged live-in partner, has denied any involvement in his death that happened on October 9.
“I am not absconding. I want to appear before the police and present my account of the incident,” she said in the video.
The influencer appealed to the media not to associate her name with politicians without evidence.
“Please do not spread rumours about me,” the woman, who claimed illness for not speaking up earlier, said.
In another video, Dubey recounted the events preceding Sharma’s death, claiming that the businessman had been struggling with debts of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and spoke about dying by suicide if he could not repay them.
According to her account, Sharma contacted her through a tea vendor in Lucknow’s Kapoorthala area on October 7 after not speaking for around a week. Later, she said, he met her beer-drunk and accompanied her home.
She claimed that, on October 9, Sharma went into her bathroom and closed the door, prompting her to ask her sister to check on him. Before her sister could open the door, Sharma jumped from the balcony, she said.
Shraddha said that CCTV footage would establish what happened and denied allegations that Sharma was tortured or assaulted. She said she had handed over Sharma’s phone to the police, which, according to her, could help establish his communications with lenders.
“You have lost your son, but I have also lost my partner,” she said, appealing to the media not to harass her, or she may be driven to suicide.
In a separate video circulating on social media, a conversation purportedly between Dubey and Sharma appears to concern theft of her jewellery.
In the recording, Sharma is purportedly heard admitting to taking three chains and a bracelet and selling them in Lucknow’s Chowk area.
Shraddha is heard saying the jewellery cost around Rs 6 lakh and asking him when he would return the money. The man in the recording promises to repay within a month and taking back a vehicle after making the payment.
The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
A police officer said the authorities were aware of the videos and had taken cognisance of them.
Efforts are being made to arrest Shraddha and other absconders, the officer said.
Meanwhile, Sharma’s mother, Ranjana Sharma, reiterated her demand for arrests of the accused.
On Shraddha’s claim that Sharma died by suicide, she wondered why she did not make the statement before the police.
Ranjana Sharma told reporters that her son had called her shortly before the incident and said he would return in five minutes after Dubey called him outside.
She has also alleged that her son faced physical and mental torture. She said she had handed over all evidence to the police.
Sharma died on October 9 after falling from an apartment in Awadh Green Apartment in Lucknow. His death, initially viewed as accidental, became the subject of a murder investigation after his family alleged that he had been assaulted and tortured before being thrown from the building.
The police have booked Shraddha, her sister Rashmi Dubey, their driver and two other people for murder at Hazratganj Police Station.
On Wednesday, a Mahindra Scorpio-N registered in Shraddha Dubey’s name was found abandoned in Rupaidiha town of Bahraich district, around a kilometre from the Nepal border.
Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that some of the accused may have crossed into Nepal.
The Lucknow Police has announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each for information leading to the arrest of Shraddha Dubey, Rashmi Dubey and Tanvir Ali alias Danish, another accused in the case.
(PTI News)
