Despite Indian Grandmaster Abhimanyu Puranik winning the 10th Chessable Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival 2023, the tournament has earned a bad name. A few Indian players were robbed abroad with no proper help coming their way. Players including GM Sankalp Gupta, International Master Dushyant Sharma, Women International Master Mounika Akshaya, and Arpita Mukherjee went through this horrific experience.
Speaking with Chessbase India, Sankalp Gupta said, “On 19th December there was a break-in at my Sunway Apollo Apartment. My laptop and AirPods were stolen as my roommate’s laptop, passport, bag, and other items were. We got to know about this after we returned from our game at 9 pm. Later on 22nd December, there was a similar break-in in my friend Mounika’s apartment at Sunway San Jorge.”
“Later in the night, the worst so far- another break-in at Sunway Arizona while my friends (Arpita and Vishwa) were sleeping. Their laptops and mobile phones were stolen,” he said further.
The chess players later confirmed the reports with their tweets. “During the night, between 2-6 am, a robbery occurred in our apartment. The perpetrators took Arpita’s laptop and Vishwa’s phone from the room where we were sleeping. Additionally, they moved our sling bags to the hall, emptied their contents, and stole money from our bags,” Arpita and Vishwa said in a joint statement.
