The body of popular Bhojpuri film actress Akanksha Dubey, aged 25, was discovered in her hotel room in the Sarnath area of the city on Sunday morning. Dubey was in the city shooting for an upcoming film and had returned to her room at Sumendra Residency hotel at 1.55 am after attending a birthday party on Saturday night. When the door to her hotel room was broken open by police at 10 am on Sunday, her body was found in a sitting position on the bed with her stole (dupatta) wrapped around her neck.
Dubey had 1.7 million followers on Instagram and was live on the platform at 2.25 am on Sunday, where she appeared to be sobbing. However, in her last post on Saturday evening, she was dancing to a Bhojpuri song and appeared normal. Sarnath ACP Gyan Prakash Rai stated that based on initial investigations, it seemed to be a case of suicide. Police and forensic teams collected evidence from the scene, and her body was preserved in a mortuary. Her parents have been informed about the incident, and an FIR will be lodged based on their complaint.
Dubey was a native of the Chauri area in Bhadohi district and had settled in Mumbai with her parents. She was in Sarnath shooting for the Bhojpuri film ‘Layak hoo..Nalayak Nahin’ and was staying at the hotel with director Niraj Srivastava and co-actors Akhilesh Verma, Sanjay Pandey, Oshi Sahu, her assistant Rekha Maurya, and other crew members. When Maurya went to wake her up for the shoot at 10 am on Sunday, there was no response. When the hotel manager called her through the intercom, there was still no response, and she was found dead inside when the hotel team opened the door with the master key.
Police did not find a suicide note inside the room, which was sealed for the collection of forensic evidence. The manager of the hotel stated that she had left her room at 8 pm on Saturday and returned at 1.55 am. The person who had dropped her off left at 2.12 am, according to hotel records. The police noted that Dubey was live on Instagram for a few seconds at 2.25 am, and was sobbing. “That means she died after 2.25 am,” said a police official, adding “we are trying to find out details about the birthday party and the persons she met there.”
Dubey had quickly established herself as a leading actress in Bhojpuri cinema, after gaining popularity as a social media and TikTok star. She had starred in Bhojpuri films alongside leading heroes of the industry, including Khesari Lal Yadav, Samar Singh, Ankush Raja, and Samar Mishra, among others. Reports suggest that Dubey was dating actor Samar Singh, and had posted a picture with him on Valentine’s Day. The news of her death came on the day her music video ‘Ye Aara Kabhi Hara Nahi’ was to be released, in which she was paired with superstar Pawan Singh.
