The 75-year-old stays with his wife Devika, sons Rohit and Vikram, at his asbestos-roofed house in Secunderabad.
HYDERABAD (Telengana): The Telengana government has offered to help former India international SS Bir Bahadur, who is in coma.
The 75-year-old, who stays with his wife Devika, sons Rohit and Vikram, at his asbestos-roofed house in Doveton, Bolarum in Secunderabad.
Telengana Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs V Srinivas Goud has promised to look into the matter.
“We will definitely help Bahadurji in all possible ways,” Goud replied to a tweet on Wednesday.
Bir Bahadur came all the way from Dehradun to join the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in Hyderabad.
It was around the same time athletics legend Milkha Singh was also enrolled at the centre. Bir Bahadur played for Services in the national football championship for Santosh Trophy till 1974.
Known for his tremendous burst and terrific control of the ball, Bahadur played for Services in the national football championship for Santosh Trophy till 1974.
“He was a very opportunistic striker. He could convert half chances and befuddle the defence with powerful runs,” said former India captain Victor Amalraj, who paid a courtesy visit to his family on Monday evening.
The pension from the Army is too meagre to take care of the family.
“Apparently, he ran into debts after getting his only daughter, Vijayalakshmi, married. Not long ago, Bir Bahadur would earn his livelihood by selling ‘chaat’ and ‘paani poori’ at the Bolarum downtown locality. Nobody recognised him,” wrote The Hindu on the financial conditions of the ex-footballer.
Bahadur was a contemporary of Olympians Peter Thangaraj, Syed Nayeemuddin and Yousuf Khan, who all hailed from Hyderabad besides Trilok Singh and Doraiswamy Nataraj.
