Abhinav Bindra lashes out at NRAI after shooters stranded at airport

New Delhi: Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra today lashed out at the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) for not coming to the aid of shooters, who were stranded at the IGI airport after their ammunition was denied clearance for several hours.

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

Bindra said that the official team manager left the athletes "to fend for themselves".

"Chatted with a few athletes and the lack of support coming through from the national federation is pathetic. @RaninderSingh @TheNrai," Bindra said.

"They are our countries ambassadors and should not be treated like this. Would this ever happen to our cricket team?," he asked.

The Indian shooters were left stranded at the airport here on their return from the World Cup in Cyprus. The team, which included the likes of Chain Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Kynan Chenai, had to wait for more than 10 hours before they were allowed to leave with their ammunition.

"Shooters held up at IGI airport for no valid reason or any fault of theirs. Dats d price v pay for always following d rules. Been 10 hrs now," another Heena Sidhu tweeted.