Sonu Sood gifts Jharkhand shooter Konica Layak a German-made rifle for competing in the Nationals

Sonu Sood gifted struggling Jharkhand shooter Konica Layak a foreign rifle so she could take part in Nationals and other competitions in the future. The popular Bollywood actor helped Konica through his charity, the Sood Foundation.

After the heartfelt gesture, Konica Layak was elated. She tagged Sonu Sood and expressed her gratitude in a Tweet in Hindi (translated here):

"Sonu Sood Sir, my rifle is here! There is a wave of happiness in my family and the entire village is blessing you. May you live long!"

Here is the tweet:

Sonu Sood was quick to respond to this in his tweet:

"India's gold medal in the Olympics is confirmed. We just need prayers now!"

Konica Layak's past struggles

Konica Layak had tagged Bollywood superstar Sonu Sood some time back in January 2021 explaining her struggles. The 26-year-old expressed how even after winning a gold and a silver medal at the 11th Jharkhand State Rifle Shooting Championship, she failed to get any aid from her state government.

She asked Sonu Sood in a tweet if he could help her with one rifle.

Sonu Sood to the rescue

Sonu Sood replied to this tweet in March and promised the rising shooter that he would help her get the rifle. He has now lived up to his promise.

Sonu Sood Foundation helped Layak with the remaining funds she required to procure the German-made rifle (which costs nearly INR 3 lakh). Layak told The Telegraph:

"I received help of around INR 1.8 lakh through the local community of Dhanbad at the initiative of some social organizations last year itself. A shortage of around Rs 45,000 was still there after the local community helped and I am thankful to Sonu Sood sir who provided this remaining amount which helped me procure the rifle for starting my practice."

The future looks bright for Konica Layak

Despite qualifying for the Nationals twice, Konica Layak had to rely on rifles borrowed from her friends and coaches. However, she can finally go all out in training and competitions with her own rifle. Sonu Sood's kind gesture was appreciated by the Twitterati.

A delighted Konica Layak told NDTV:

"With the rifle, I can practice in my own time and also get admission in the Joydeep Karmakar Shooting Academy at Calcutta in order to hone my skills and stay in medal hunts at national and international competitions."

Sonu Sood has been known to do a lot of philanthropic work in the recent past. He has been instrumental in helping thousands during the COVID-19 crisis and is now being praised for lending a helping hand to the rising shooter.