It was his addiction to online gaming, especially "Aviator", that led 20-year-old Nikhil Yadav to attack his mother with a screwdriver and then smash her head with a gas cylinder, leading to her death, said police. Lucknow Police has arrested Nikhil Yadav, alias Golu, for the murder of his 45-year-old mother, who had caught him stealing her jewellery. According to police, Nikhil had become addicted to online gaming, particularly "Aviator" hosted on tirangagamee.games, where he lost money. To repay borrowed funds, he took loans from several apps on high-interest rates and several hidden charges. Unable to repay on time, Nikhil allegedly began stealing jewellery from his home. Police said that to cover his losses, he had previously stolen his mother’s jewellery. On October 3, he attempted to steal again after returning from his maternal uncle’s house, when his mother confronted him. Nikhil allegedly attacked her with a screwdriver and then smashed her head with a gas cylinder. After the murder, he ransacked the house to make it appear like a robbery, packed the stolen jewellery and the screwdriver in his bag, and fled on his father’s motorcycle. He later phoned his father, Ramesh Yadav, fabricating a story that unidentified assailants had killed his mother and attacked him, though he had managed to escape. Nikhil then switched off his cellphone and went into hiding, police said. Police said that Ramesh Yadav returned home to find the house ransacked. He took his wife to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead. Ramesh Yadav had initially told police that his wife had been killed by burglars who also ran off with jewellery and valuables worth around Rs 5 to 6 lakh. However, after checking the CCTV footage surfaced, suspicion quickly shifted towards Nikhil. According to police, the postmortem report confirmed multiple injuries on the victim’s body. Following investigations, Nikhil was booked for murder, theft, and other related charges. Nikhil was arrested from Fatehpur district, and police have seized the stolen jewellery, his cellphone, and the alleged murder weapon, a screwdriver, police said. Station House Officer, PGI police station, Dheerendra Kumar Singh said, “Nikhil, who is an undergraduate, has confessed to the crime.” Singh added that he was produced before the court, which sent him to judicial custody.
