During a tournament in Chennai, a teenage shooter accidentally fired, which left a physiotherapist with a broken jaw that required emergency surgery. This incident is the third serious breach of safety norms in Indian shootings this year.

The pellet got lodged in the jaw of the physio and was removed after an emergency surgery at a private hospital.

While talking about this incident, Bengal coach Koeli Mitter said that it was accidental and happened at night. The shooter was cleaning her gun, and the physio suddenly appeared there. The shooter should have been more careful.

Physio is doing fine, and they had taken her to the hospital at that moment only, where surgery was performed on the jaw. She was in daycare for 24 hours.

It was learned that the shooter did not remove the pellet from her rifle while cleaning it and accidentally pressed the trigger just when the physio was entering her hotel room. It adds up to a violation of the safety norms for weapon handling.

All the expenses for hospitalization for physio and the subsequent surgery were paid by the parents of the shooter.

The shooters are routinely counseled on handling the gun, and this incident was an aberration.

However, Sultan Singh, NRAI secretary-general, claimed that he was not aware of the incident but stressed the need for only experienced former shooters as coaches.

Recently, the NRAI rebuked its range officials and issued an advisory after a serious safety violation involving a rifle shooter during the National Championships at the Karni Singh Ranges. The shooter had pointed her rifle toward the spectator gallery, which, as per the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) rules, is a serious safety violation.

In another incident, in Faridabad, Pushpender, a national-level Indian Air Force shooter, lost his thumb while filling compressed gas in his pistol at a private shooting academy.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Komal Bhoi/MSM)