Ex-footballer shoots friends; national champion wife arrested

Fights between couples are common. But to harm them with the intention of killing is a punishable crime.

Ajay Singh, a former India junior soccer player, and a leader of All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) Party shot two of his friends, killing one and injuring another, near his residence in Bokaro, Jharkhand on Wednesday allegedly. Singh, 45, a former footballer with East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, has been absconding.

The crime has sent shock waves as Singh is a popular figure among sportspersons in Jharkhand. He had opened a football academy in July 2016 to groom budding players.

Police said Singh fought with his wife Angela – a national level archer from Manipur – over domestic issues on Wednesday when they were returning home in a car. He abandoned her at a spot and sped off. Angela was walking on the road when Sunil Gupta and Amresh spotted her and asked if she was in trouble.

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Meanwhile, Singh returned and started thrashing Angela. Bokaro SP Karthik S said Amresh intervened and tried to stop Singh when in a fit of rage the footballer took out a country-made pistol and fired at Angela and Amresh. “One of the bullets missed Angela and hit Gupta. Singh fired again and this time the bullet hit Amresh, who collapsed on the spot,” said the SP.

Realising that Gupta was severely injured Singh took him to a hospital in his car. He left Gupta at the gate of the trauma center and sped away. Amresh was brought to the hospital by residents of the colony.

Angela, who escaped the attack, has been arrested in connection with the recovery of huge cache of firearms from the couple’s house, police said. Singh’s elder brother Rajesh too has been arrested after police established his complicity in hiding evidence. “Investigations have revealed that Singh was an illegal arms smuggler and supplier. We are now looking into his antecedents,” said Karthik.