Gurugram

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. With many claiming that the music video might have triggered tensions at home, police said all angles were being looked into.

According to officials, Deepak Yadav confessed that he shot at Radhika because he was often taunted for living off her income. Police, in a statement, claimed that the tennis academy Radhika ran was the bone of contention between the father and the daughter.

"Her father was not happy with it," Gurugram police spokesperson Sandeep Singh said, adding that Deepak has disclosed that his objection was to her daughter running the tennis academy, over which there had been altercations between the two.

"On many occasions, he had told her to shut it, but she did not agree. Angered, he shot her thrice," the spokesperson added.

The accused felt that he was financially well off and also earned from rental income, so there was no need for his daughter to run an academy, the police claimed.

A court here on Friday sent Deepak Yadav to police custody for a day. Outside the court, a police official told reporters that they had sought a two-day remand of the accused.

"We have to recover the ammunition of his licensed revolver (used in the crime). We have to verify how much ammunition he had procured," he said.

Asked from where the recovery has to be made, the official said, "The accused owns land in Kasam village near Rewari. We have to get the ammunition from there."

The 49-year-old accused, wearing a T-shirt and trousers, had his head covered with a towel as he stepped out of the vehicle near the court complex under police escort for a court appearance.

He faced a volley of questions from a battery of media persons, wanting to know why he killed his daughter. However, he was quickly taken inside the court premises.

When he came out of court after the hearing, the towel was off. He faced the same question, and again, he was quickly escorted by the police to the vehicle.

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 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. She was ranked 1999 by the International Tennis Federation.

She achieved the highest All India Tennis Association (AITA) Under-18 Ranking of 75 and AITA women's singles ranking of 35.

AITA official Anil Dhupar expressed grief and shock over the incident.

ALSO READ: Sakib Gore: Visionary on a mission of restoring sight and changing lives

"It's really sad and unfortunate. She came to Indore to play W35 this year. In her junior days, she was very promising. She always wanted to start an academy to create future players and enquired how to go about it. It's really shocking to know what has happened," he said.