PATNA: AJSU leader and former international soccer player Ajay Kumar Singh shot at two of his friends at his house in Jharkhand’s Bokaro, killing one of them on the spot, late on Wednesday night in what is believed to be a marital discord gone awry.
Police said Sunil Gupta died on the spot while the other victim, Amaresh Kumar Singh alias Appu, is struggling for his life at the Bokaro General Hospital. Ajay Kumar Singh fled the spot soon after the shooting. Police took his wife, Angela Singh, a former international archer, into custody and interrogated her.
“A carbine, a country-made gun and many cartridges were recovered at the house of the accused in a raid after the shooting incident. The preliminary probe indicates a dispute between Ajay and his friends over his wife’s closeness to one of them,” said Bokaro DSP (city) Ajay Kumar.
The footballer, who has been running Chinmaya Ajay Singh Football Academy in Bokaro since 2016, is a central committee member of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party, led by former Jharkhand deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto. Ajay Kumar Singh had unsuccessfully contested Assembly polls in Bokaro on an AJSU ticket in 2005 and on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2009 and 2014.
Singh was a well-known midfielder in the Indian national football team. His football academy was inaugurated in July 2016 by Indian football team captain Sunil Chetri.
The shooting took place when Singh was engaged in conversation with his friends. “A matter of dispute cropped up in the conversation and an enraged Singh shot at his friends. We are ascertaining how many people were present there altogether when the incident happened,” said a police official.
“Raids are being conducted at various places to arrest the accused. The injured man’s statements would be taken after his condition improves. The whole matter seems linked to marital discord, but a complete probe would yield the exact cause,” said Jharkhand ADGP RK Mallik.