Click to play videoNew Delhi: Biranchi Das, the coach who trained child prodigy and marathon runner Budhia Singh, was shot dead in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, on Sunday evening.
Das, a judo coach, was shot twice and died in a government hospital. Deputy Commissioner of Police Amitabh Thakur told CNN-IBN that Das was shot at when he was taking a judo class.
Thakur confirmed the killing had nothing to with Budhia. “We have already spoken to an eyewitness and zeroed in on the accused. We want to rule out the possibility of any link with Budhua. He was killed because of personal reasons.”
Police said Das was killed around 1800 hours IST. However, no arrests have been made so far.
“We are finding out the details of the people who were present during the class. We have informed all senior officials and we are hopeful of arresting the culprits soon,” Thakur said.
Meanwhile, Das’ inconsolable wife told CNN-IBN, “I am not in stable condition. We don’t know what happened to him suddenly.”
Das became famous because of his protégée Budhia, a slum kid who entered record books when ran for 65 km from Puri to Bhubaneswar in 2006.
The fame soon turned into infamy when in August 2007 Budhia accused Das of torturing him and filed a police complaint against. Das spent a few days in judicial custody after Budhia’s complaint.
Budhia got a new coach in September 2007.
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