Ex-footballer held for smuggling arms

A former striker of Kolkata’s premier football clubs landed in police custody on Thursday in connection with smuggling of bullets from ...

A former striker of Kolkata’s premier football clubs landed in police custody on Thursday in connection with smuggling of bullets from Assam to Jammu and Kashmir.

Abid Imam (37) was a striker for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting for seven years till 1992. He was also part of the under-19 national team. Imam is suspected of arranging for smuggling of 25,000 bullets for AK-47 rifles. ‘‘ Imam received the consignment in Kolkata and was waiting for the opportune moment to send them to Kashmir Valley. We suspect he has links with some J&K terrorist outfit,’’ DCP, Detective Department (DD) said.

Imam has been remanded in police custody till December 18. On September 3, police recovered the bullets from a truck in Taratala, South Kolkata. The former soccer player was arrested from Mangalbari in Malda, where he was working as a Grade-II officer of the FCI, and is the third person arrested in the case.

The soccer fraternity at Kolkata’s Maidan was quick to disown him. ‘‘I have not even heard his name,’’ said Sultan Ahmed, secretary of Mohammedan Sporting. ‘‘I can’t remember him. He must have been small fry,’’ said coach Subrata Bhattacharya, a contemporary of Imam and former captain of Mohun Bagan.

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