International shooter’s rifle goes missing from Karni Singh armoury

In an unprecedented incident, an air rifle of an international shooter has gone missing from the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Adrian Karmakar, who will shortly represent India in prone and three positions competitions in juniors at the ongoing Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, has reported that his Walther rifle is missing from the Finals range armoury.

Adrian, who is Arjuna Award winner Joydeep Karmakar’s son, realised his gun was missing six days earlier. Till today, no FIR has been filed, either by the Karmakars or by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

SAI officials conducted a search in the hostel premises inside the range but the rifle was nowhere to be found. SAI sources told The Tribune that the shooter should have never left the rifle at the Finals range armoury as the real place to leave the weapon is the main armoury next to the Finals range.

“We have searched the hostel but the rifle was not found. Shooters sometimes leave their weapons in the Finals range armoury because the main armoury shuts early and it becomes an issue if they are training late,” said a SAI source on condition of anonymity.

“He should have left the weapon in the main armoury. He checked both the weapons together and only took out his .22 weapon for practice. Right now we are checking every detail in order to find who took the weapon out,” he added.

Joydeep, meanwhile, is still waiting to find out the real cause before filing the FIR.

“Adrian is already out and I think we will only file the FIR once he is back. It is surprising that something like this has happened at the range. I have never come across a situation where someone’s pistol or rifle goes missing from the armoury,” Karmakar told The Tribune on Tuesday.

“I do not want to believe that someone has done this deliberately but it is a serious issue. We are just waiting to get a clear picture as this rifle cannot be used by anyone as it is registered with the National Rifle Association of India and whosoever uses it will be caught,” he added.