Indian Shooting team held at airport for 13 hrs

For customs clearance, thirteen members of the national shooting team were detained at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport for almost 13 hours on Tuesday along with the seizure of their weapons.

The shooters were returning from the Plzen Grand Prix shooting competition in the Czech Republic and were asked to stay back at the airport by the customs department.

Later, the guns were returned to them by the customs officials.

While talking to Millennium Post, Pemba Tamang, said, "We were detained for 13 hours at the airport. They told us that they needed some clearance but soon it turned hectic. We were exhausted and we never expected this at the airport." Tamang an Indian shooter had bagged a bronze in the 48th Grand Prix Shooting championship that took place in the Czech Republic from May 3 to 7. Also, he has brought accolades to India after he won medals for India in Commonwealth games 2006 and Asian games 2014.

Venting his anger, Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra put out a series of tweets, asserting that the shooters are the ambassadors of India and also questioned if the Indian cricketers will ever be treated in a similar manner.

"Saddened to hear that the National Shooting Team is detained at The IGI Airport with the customs refusing to clear their guns," tweeted Bindra.

"They are our countries ambassadors and should not be treated like this. Would this ever happen to our cricket team?", was his following tweet.

Heena Sidhu, Indian sports shooter said, "Shooters held up at IGI Airport for no valid reason or any fault.

That is the price we pay for always following the rules."

Being sarcastic she tweeted: "Shooters need to learn to live at airports before learning to shoot."