Aspiring shooter, who was gifted rifle by actor Sonu Sood, found hanging at Howrah hostel

The shooter, who had won a few medals at the state level, was training along with Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Joydeep Karmakar in Kolkata. Police have started investigations into her death.

New Delhi/Howrah: A young national-level shooter Konica Layak was found hanging at her hostel in Bally in Howrah district, police said.

According to Howrah Police sources, a suicide note was found with her where she blamed 'depression' as the reason for taking the extreme step. The incident happened on Wednesday. "She was depressed for not getting chances, she wrote in the note," said a police official, adding that the 26-year-old girl was due to get married in February. This is the fourth such case in recent times in the shooting fraternity.

The shooter, who had won a few medals at the state level, was training along with Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Joydeep Karmakar in Kolkata. Police have started investigations into the death of the shooter who was from Dhanbad in Jharkhand. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is aware of the shocking incident. Layak had also won a gold and silver at the Jharkhand State Rifle Championship.

Earlier this year, Konica was gifted a German-manufactured rifle by actor Sonu Sood after he was briefed about her struggles. She was training at Karmakar's academy for a nominal fee. Her family members are learned to have reached Kolkata. 

Sood had gifted her the rifle so she could take part in the Nationals and other competitions. "Sonu Sood sir, my rifle is here. There is a wave of happiness in my family and the entire village is blessing you. May you live long," an elated Layak had tweeted after receiving the gun amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the fourth case of death by suicide in recent months, in the shooting fraternity, raising serious questions.

Recently, young pistol shooter Khushpreet Kaur Sandhu, who had made her junior India debut at the last World Championship in Lima, committed suicide after registering low scores at the Nationals.

Before that, two more shooters - Hunardeep Singh Sohal and Namanveer Singh Brar, also took the extreme step.