East Bengal’s technical director Subhash Bhowmick was sentenced to three years prison by the Alipore Judge’s Court on bribery charges on Monday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Bhowmick in 2005 with charges of accepting a bribe from a Kolkata-based company. He was then working as a superintendent with the Central Excise Department.
The CBI investigation concluded that the former India international footballer demanded INR 4 lakhs as bribe from the company which was later brought down to INR 1.5 lakhs after negotiations. CBI sleuths then caught him red-handed as he was about to receive the bribe.
The case has been in court for almost 13 years and the verdict was finally passed on Monday. However, the current East Bengal Technical Director has been granted a bail on medical grounds.
At the time of his arrest, Subhash Bhowmick was the coach of East Bengal but the club decided to part ways with him as soon as the news of his arrest came out. He worked at the club again in 2008 after which he was appointed the technical director at Goan clubs Salgaocar and Churchill Brothers and also at Mohun Bagan.
After a disappointing I-League campaign last season, East Bengal brought Bhowmick back and appointed him as the technical director in March 2018. At the end of the season, the club sacked coach Khalid Jamil but decided to retain Bhowmick’s services.
East Bengal this season have roped in former ATK assistant coach Bastob Roy as their head coach.
