KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, April 13: Marathon kid Budhia Singh's former coach Biranchi Das was shot dead in Bhubaneswar on Sunday evening.

Unidentified assailants fired at Das outside the premises of the Orissa Judo Association around 7 pm and managed to flee the spot.

Das was rushed to the government-run Capital Hospital where doctors declared him `brought dead'.

According to initial reports, three persons, who had come to meet Das at the Judo Association, had a quarrel with him. One of the three then fired at Das from a close range.

Although police were tightlipped about the cause behind the killing, it is suspected the three persons belonged to a local gang which had some rivalry with Das.

There were some eyewitnesses to the incident, but police said they would talk about the indentity of the killers only after initial investigations.

Das had first come to limelight for grooming Budhia Singh as a long-distance runner.