Gurgaon tennis player Radhika Yadav case: Co-actor denies link to murder, says he never met her after music video; recalls she said her father liked the song

NEW DELHI: Inam-ul-Haq, who co-starred with the tennis player Radhika Yadav in a music video, has denied any involvement in her murder, stating he had no contact with her after the shoot.Haq said he first met Radhika during the Tennis Premier League in Delhi and later collaborated with her on a music video project."I met her (Radhika) for the first time in the Tennis Premier League, which was held in Delhi. After that, I met her in a music video. She was an actor to me. I have worked with many actresses. She just came for the shooting of the music video, and then she left. We just gave her a good luck amount. The production of the video was unpaid.

After that, we never contacted," he said.

Haq denied any involvement in Radhika’s death and voiced concern over efforts to portray the incident through a communal lens."This incident is being given a Hindu-Muslim angle too. I don't know why it is being done. I don't have to do anything with this case. Radhika has no social media. There is just a video clip on YouTube; that's why it is being highlighted repeatedly," he added.

He further said that false rumours about a relationship between him and Radhika are being spread on social media, which are completely "untrue." "There was neither any kind of friendship nor any relationship between Radhika and me," he said. Haq recalled that Radhika had arrived at the shoot with her mother and mentioned that her father appreciated the song."She (Radhika) came to the shooting (of the music video) with her mother.

On the set, she also mentioned that her father liked the song, which means she took permission from her father also. When we met her for the first time, she told us that she wants to work in this line (film line). She desired to work in this line. After that, we never met. We were in contact during the release of the song. She deactivated and reactivated her Instagram account around 2-3 times," he said.

Haq also stated that he has not been contacted by the police so far but is fully prepared to cooperate with the investigation."When the song did not get the expected popularity, I thought my song got wasted and I decided to delete it. I anticipated re-releasing it with another face. I was cast in the music video at the last moment as an actor, but I did not like my look. However, I am not deleting the video for now. I was not contacted (by any investigating officer). If I receive any call, I will definitely cooperate with them," he said. Radhika Yadav, 25, was cremated on Friday in Gurugram, Haryana.

She was allegedly shot dead by her father, Deepak Yadav, after a dispute related to her tennis academy in Sector 57.Dr. Deepak Mathur, a member of the postmortem team, confirmed that she sustained multiple gunshot wounds. "The postmortem of the deceased tennis player is completed. Four bullets were taken out from Radhika Yadav's body," Dr Mathur said. Police have arrested Deepak Yadav and placed him in one-day custody for further questioning.According to Gurugram Police PRO Sandeep Kumar, Yadav, who operates a rental property business, was reportedly unhappy with his daughter running the tennis academy, believing that their comfortable financial situation meant she didn’t need to work."The accused (Deepak Yadav) was unhappy with his daughter, Radhika, running her tennis academy and was asking her to shut the academy. The accused mentioned that they are financially prosperous people; therefore, he did not want Radhika to run any academy," said Kumar. Sources revealed that Radhika’s father had asked her to remove the music video from her social media accounts.Police are currently reviewing the video along with other digital evidence as part of their ongoing investigation.(With inputs from ANI)