Lucknow: More than four days after being named the prime accused in the murder of Lucknow restaurant owner Shiva Sharma, model and social media influencer Shraddha Dubey surfaced in a video on social media, denying wrongdoing, distancing herself from politicians and officials and saying she was willing to record her statement before police.Lucknow Police has announced a reward of ₹25,000 each for information leading to the arrest of Shraddha, her sister Rashmi Dubey and Tanveer Ali alias Danish in connection with Sharma’s death.In the 1.15 minutes video, Shraddha claimed rumours were being spread about her and that her name was unnecessarily being linked with politicians and officials merely because some of them were connected with her on Instagram.“I request the media not to drag my name into everything. You have unnecessarily linked my name with several politicians and officials. Just because someone is connected with me on Instagram does not mean you should spread rumours about me. I have no connection with them and do not know them,” she said.Denying that she was absconding, Shraddha said she wanted to approach police and disclose everything she knew about the case. “I am not missing. I want to come to the police and record my statement. I want to tell them the complete truth about whatever happened,” she said.Shraddha also claimed Sharma died by suicide and was not murdered, saying she wanted to explain the circumstances but was currently physically unfit to do so. Her claim has not been independently established and the circumstances of Sharma’s death remain under investigation.“Sharma died on Oct 9 after falling from the fourth floor of an apartment in Hazratganj area. He had reportedly been in a relationship with Shraddha for four months. His mother, Ranjana Sharma, lodged a murder case against Shraddha, Rashmi, driver Adil and two others, alleging that Shraddha pushed Sharma from the fourth floor. Reports also referred to injuries, including cigarette-burn marks, on Sharma’s body.The accused remain untraceable. An SUV reportedly linked to Shraddha was found abandoned in Bahraich’s Rupaidiha area near the India-Nepal border.
