Gurugram, Jul 11: Police here on Friday said they were investigating all possible angles in the murder of former tennis player Radhika Yadav, including what her mother was doing when the incident occurred.
According to an FIR registered based on the complaint of the deceased’s uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, Radhika’s mother Manju Yadav was present on the first floor of the house when the shooting took place.
The 25-year-old former player was shot dead by her father at the family’s double-storey home in the upscale Sushant Lok area of Gurugram on Thursday. Deepak Yadav (49) later confessed to killing his daughter and was arrested.
Radhika Yadav featured in a music video last year alongside an independent artist. Police officials said the music video might have triggered tensions at home, and this angle will also be probed.
In the FIR, Kuldeep Yadav said Deepak, his wife Manju and daughter Radhika lived on the first floor of the house in Sector 57 while he lived on the ground floor along with his family.
On Thursday, around 10.30 am, he suddenly heard a “loud explosion” and rushed to the first floor, the FIR stated.
“I saw my niece Radhika lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen, and the revolver was found in the drawing room. My son, Piyush Yadav, also rushed to the first floor. Both of us picked up Radhika and rushed her in our car to Asia Maringo Hospital in Sector 56, where doctors declared her dead,” the uncle said in his statement.
Earlier, police said the incident occurred around 2 pm when Radhika was on the first floor, cooking food in the kitchen.
Kuldeep Yadav said only Deepak, his wife and daughter were on the first floor of the house when the incident occurred. Their son Dheeraj was not present there at the time of the incident, the deceased’s uncle told the police, which was recorded in the FIR.
According to police, Deepak fired at least five gunshots, three of which hit Radhika in the back, and killed her on the spot. It was earlier said that her mother was on the ground floor, and she rushed upstairs after hearing the gunshots, which, she said, sounded like a pressure cooker blast.
“My niece was a very good tennis player, and she had won several trophies. I am surprised why she was murdered. My brother has a licensed .32 bore revolver. It was lying there,” the former tennis player’s uncle told police.
A police official said they were probing all angles, including what the former tennis player’s mother was doing when the killing happened.
According to sources, Deepak Yadav confessed that he shot at Radhika because he was often taunted for living off her income. Police, however, in an official statement, claimed that the tennis academy Radhika ran was the bone of contention between the father and the daughter.
“Radhika used to run a tennis academy, and her father was not happy with it,” Gurugram police spokesperson Sandeep Singh said.
She was ranked 1999 by the International Tennis Federation. According to its website, Radhika Yadav had played tournaments earlier this year in Indore and Kuala Lumpur, but these were in the qualifying events and not the main draw.(PTI)
