Budhia's coach Biranchi shot dead in Bhubaneswar

Marathon kid Budhia Singh's former coach Biranchi Das was killed by three unidentified assailants on Sunday evening after he came out from the Orissa Judo Association Hall in the state capital Bhubaneswar.

Police in its initial investigation ruled out any involvement in Budhia Singh and reports the possibility of a personal rivalry.

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As per reports, three persons who first argued with Mr Das and later shot him twice from a close range. The attackers escaped from the place in a motorcycle.

Soon after, Das was rushed to the government hospital in Bhubaneswar where doctor declared him brought-dead.

The city police is yet to have any clue of the unidentified assailants. However police suspects a person named Raja Acharya, a local gang leader who might have some involvement in this case, Sushanta Das the younger brother of Biranchi Das informed reporters.

A special team has been set up for the complete investigation of this case as the city police commissioner Binaya Kumar Behera told reporters on Sunday.

As per local reports, Biranchi Das had got a call on his mobile phone and after that he had come out of the Judo Hall at around 7 pm where he had some kind heated argument.

Although the exact cause behind the murder is yet to come into light but personal rivalry with the gang leader is probably be one of the reasons that police will investigate further.

Biranchi Das had first come to prominence in the year 2006 when under his guidance the child Budhia Singh emerged as a long-distance runner after completing a 65-km run in just seven hours (from Puri to Bhubaneswar).

Later child rights activists highlighted the event with doctors also seconded it for putting pressure on the child’s health following which Orissa government refrained Budhia from competing in any marathon.

Budhia’s mother Sukanti Singh had also alleged the coach Das for exploiting her child for monetary gains, which Das had denied.