New Delhi: It was a ‘shoot-out’ of a different kind, and it did hurt the Indian shooters. In a disturbing development, the star-studded Indian shooting team were stranded in London for eight hours on Saturday after they were thrown out of their hotel by the hotel authorities.

The team included some of the best Indian shooters like Gagan Narang, Sanjeev Rajput, Joydeep Karmakar, Rahi Sarnobat and several others. The 50-member Indian contingent, including senior coaches and officials, were in London to take part in the World Cup, which was also a test event for the upcoming Olympics.

According to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) sources, the Indian team were told to vacate their hotel rooms immediately after they returned from the shooting range on the concluding day of the tournament, on Saturday.

“The shooters were told to leave the hotel within 10 minutes after they came back from the range,” said an NRAI official. “When the shooters protested, they were informed that their bookings in the hotel were already over.”

For eight hours the shooters were kept standing outside the hotel with their baggage as all attempts to solve the problem through the NRAI top bosses in Delhi, and the Indian embassy in London, failed, an official informed. Finally, late in the night, the NRAI officials managed to book another hotel for the Indian shooters.

While it was not clear that why the hotel booking was not done till Sunday, when the team were actually scheduled to leave for India, sources indicated that NRAI officials faltered in their duty to make proper bookings.

A senior NRAI official, however, said the federation would be treating the matter with extreme seriousness. “This is not the first time our team have been treated badly. It’s simply disgusting. We will take up the matter with local organisers in London and with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if needed. We will also inform the foreign ministry about the unnecessary harassment of our shooters, “ he said.

NRAI officials said that while most of the shooters left for India on Sunday, those who have been selected for Olympics have gone to Birmingham and Milan in two groups.

While the entire episode may primarily appear to be a case of harsh treatment by the hosts, also at fault are the NRAI officials.

It was because of their callousness that the shooters had to suffer. In these days of professionalism, the way the NRAI acted was perhaps not even fit for amateurs.