The Tribune Impact: Olympics-bound shooter gets Chandigarh permission to buy pistol

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, June 21

The UT Administration has finally issued ‘purchase permission’ to the 2024 Paris Olympics-bound Chandigarh shooter Vijayveer Sidhu, a day after The Tribune highlighted the matter of delay in approving the same. Sidhu confirmed getting the needed approval and would initiate the process of procuring the weapon to participate in the Paris Olympics which are set to start on July 26.

The shooter, who would carry India’s medal hopes in the 25-metre rapid-fire pistol event, was awaiting purchase permission from the UT Administration to be able to approach distributors in order to procure his weapon and ammunition. This is the same weapon that he plans to use in the Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old shooter qualified for the Olympics after making it to the final of the Asian Shooting Championships 2024 in Jakarta (Indonesia). He said his pistol costs €12,000 (about Rs 10.60 lakh), and without getting purchase permission, Sidhu was not able to get customs’ clearance for it. He had applied for the purchase permission in May; however, the authority concerned cited that the model code of conduct was in force due to the General Election. Recently, he repeatedly visited the concerned office, but to no avail. As per procedure, after getting the permit to procure (import) weapons from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), a purchase approval is needed to confirm the dealer. The dealer would further start the payment process and import the weapon, which would reach the owner through the Customs Department.