Shooting
Sonu Sood gifts rifle to Jharkhand shooter to compete in Nationals
Sonu Sood has come forward to help a Jharkhand-based shooter and gifted her an imported rifle so she can pursue her dream of winning medals in tournaments.
Sonu Sood and Konica Layak
Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has been winning hearts with his philanthropic efforts. And this time, Sood has come forward to help a Jharkhand-based shooter. The actor gifted the shooter an imported rifle so she can pursue her dream of winning medals in tournaments.
The shooter, Konica Layak, hails from Dhanbad in Jharkhand, had qualified for nationals twice in 2016 and 2017. She had been relying on rifles from her coach and friend to practice.
Konica took to Twitter to share her problem about not being able to afford a rifle. She also shared her achievements like winning a gold and a silver medal at the Jharkhand State Rifle Shooting Championship-2020.
On March 4, she posted another tweet, highlighting her achievements like '10 gold and 8 silver medals', and once again tagged Sonu Sood. This time her plea did not go unanswered as the Dabangg star promised to help him.
Sonu Sood responded to his message and stated that the rifle will reach her. He had one condition though that she needs to give the nation a medal.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the 26-year-old Layak said, "I cannot have my own rifle as it costs nearly Rs 3 lakh. I had to depend on my coach rifle or on my friend. I had arranged Rs 80,000 from my friends and taken Rs 1 lakh as loan for the rifle and fortunately Sonu Sood Foundation arranged the remaining funds for the rifle and I have already placed the order. The Germany made rifle would be reaching me in two and half months."
Layak had qualified at the National Shooting Championship at Pune in 2016 and the national competition in Kerala in 2017. But could not win any medals. She had been regularly winning medals at state meets in 2015, 2016 and 2021 in the 10 meters and 50 meters distances. Layak further told the publication that she wishes to get admission to the Joydeep Karmakar Shooting Academy at Calcutta.
