LUCKNOW A day after high drama surrounding the hunt for model/influencer Shraddha Dubey put the Lucknow police under intense scrutiny, the force was seen stepping up its efforts to trace her on Monday, with another key officer being transferred, a team questioning her family in Rae Bareli and investigators scanning CCTV footage to establish her possible movements.
However, the police department did not give any official clarity on the transfer and removals. DCP (Traffic) Arpit Vijayvargiya was made DCP (Central) and given an additional charge of intelligence and security. A Lucknow police team visited Rae Bareli, where Shraddha’s relatives reside, and questioned them for more than half an hour to piece together her whereabouts. Sunday proved a particularly eventful day in the ongoing hunt, with speculation about Shraddha’s possible surrender drawing attention to Hazratganj police station and the Sultanganj police outpost. Later, Shraddha surfaced in a video in which she claimed innocence.
Speaking to media persons on Monday, he said a 10-member police team was continuously working on the case and that information would be shared with the media as soon as something concrete emerged. The police, meanwhile, doubled the reward for information leading to her arrest from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000. Oct 11–13 | Days 3–5: Police search continues; accused remain untraced. Oct 17 | Day 9: Court issues non-bailable warrants against three accused.
However, she did not appear before the police, and her whereabouts remained unknown. The latest reshuffle saw ACP (Hazratganj) Rajneesh Sharma transferred and posted as ACP (Crime), hours after DCP (Central) Vikrant Vir was removed from the post and the Hazratganj station house officer (SHO) taken off duty on Sunday. The successive changes came amid mounting questions over the police’s inability to trace Shraddha, who appeared in a video on Sunday, claiming innocence but remained untraced.
