Angry over reels, father shoots tennis star dead in Gurugram

A 25-year-old former state-level tennis player, Radhika, who used to run an academy, was allegedly shot dead by her father on Thursday afternoon at their house in Sushant Lok here. The accused, Deepak Yadav (49), has been arrested and an FIR was registered against him at Sector 56 police station.

The police recovered his .32 bore licensed revolver, which was used in the murder. Yadav is a native of Wazirabad village and currently lives in Sushant Lok 2, Sector 57, with his wife, daughter and son.

Sources claimed Radhika admired social media influencer Elvish Yadav. After a shoulder injury, she began making reels, aspiring to be an influencer. While her father did not cite this as the motive, the sources claimed he disapproved of her making reels, which led to a fight that ended in her murder.  Police sources, however, claimed Yadav had confessed to killing his daughter due to frustration over people taunting him for “living off her earnings”. He was also unhappy with her creating social media reels. In an official statement, the Gurugram police said the murder was initially linked to his disapproval of her running the tennis academy. An argument reportedly took place between Radhika and her father around 10.30 am on Thursday over the matter.

A police official said, “Radhika ran a tennis academy and her father opposed it. Following a dispute, he shot her with his licensed weapon around 2 pm.”

Radhika was shot in the back while cooking in the first-floor kitchen, while her mother was downstairs. The police said Yadav fired five bullets, three of which hit Radhika, killing her on the spot.

Her mother rushed upstairs after hearing the gunshots and called the police. A team arrived and took the critically injured Radhika to the hospital, where she was declared dead.

Inspector Vinod Kumar, SHO of Sector 56 police station, said, “Based on a complaint by the victim’s uncle, an FIR was registered and the accused was arrested. We are interrogating him.”