National-Level Shooter Sippy Sidhu Shot Dead in Chandigarh

For a rifle shooter to get killed by a bullet is the ultimate irony. National-level marksman Sippy Sidhu was found dead with bullet injuries in Chandigarh on Sunday night. The body of the 34-year-old shooter was recovered from a park in Sector 27 at around 11 pm. (Click here for latest Sports stories)

Police sources said that they received a call from a local that a dead body was lying in the park, after which a police team rushed to the spot. Upon verification, the bullet-riddled body was found to be that of Sidhu.

The motive behind the murder is not yet known. Sidhu was also a high-profile lawyer and a sports promoter from an affluent family. He was the proprietor of a Chandigarh-based law firm. Police said Sidhu's body has two-three bullet injuries.

Sidhu was a rifle shooter and had won the team gold along with Abhinav Bindra in the Punjab National Games in 2001. He had been on the shooting circuit for more than 15 years and won medals regularly at various shooting competitions. He was the joint-secretary of the Paralympic Committee of India.

The news of Sippy's murder sent shockwaves across India.

Rifle shooter Shimon Sharif said, "It's a great loss to shooting sports and to me personally. Sippy was a close friend. He had the passion to promote sports in India. He was working very hard in the field of sports promotion and development and surely had a very bright future."

"This is very shocking for me, he was very friendly and full of life," said 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sameer Ambekar.

On hearing the news, London Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang immediately left for Chandigarh from Delhi to attend close friend Sidhu's funeral.

(With inputs from indianshooting.com)