Radhika Yadav case: Victim's uncle says mother on same floor at time of shooting

Gurugram Police on Friday, 11 July said they were investigating all possible angles in the murder of former tennis player Radhika Yadav allegedly at the hands of her father, including what her mother was doing when the incident occurred.

According to an FIR based on a complaint by the deceased's uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, Radhika's mother Manju Yadav was present on the first floor of the house when Deepak Yadav allegedly and fatally shot his daughter.

The 25-year-old former player was allegedly shot dead 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. On Friday, a court sent Yadav to police custody for a day.

Outside the court, a police official told reporters, "We have to recover the ammunition of his licensed revolver (used in the crime) and also verify how much ammunition he had procured."

Radhika featured in a music video last year alongside an independent artist. Police officials said the music video might have triggered tension 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, at 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 at around 2.00 pm when Radhika was on the first floor, cooking 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 at the time of the incident, the deceased's uncle told the police.

Deepak Yadav, prime accused

"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.

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 father and daughter.

Radhika 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.