Kolkata: East Bengal’s ASEAN Cup winning midfielder Kuluthungan passed away after a heart-breaking road accident a few hours back. Kuluthungan also won I-League and Federation Cup titles for East Bengal.
His former teammate at East Bengal Alvito D’cunha too seemed to be shattered by the news, as he told www.xtratime.in, “Yes, I just came to know the news from Chandan. It’s a big loss for his family. He was a brilliant player at his prime. Subhash Bhowmick used to use him as a trump card. A player with a gifted first touch,” he continued saying, “A few days back I was telling Nitu da that in the IFA Shield semi-final against the then Eveready he lifted us with a match-winning goal. A sad day indeed.”
Kuluthungan was on his way back home at Thanjavur around 2 am at night when he had a fatal accident on the road. His former teammate at East Bengal and another Indian football legend M Suresh told XtraTime, “I still can’t believe the news. There was an award giving ceremony after a U16 football tournament last night. After the final, there was a party as well. He was coming late at home around 2 am at night. His friend called me in the morning and said that there wasn’t much traffic on the road at that time. A bridge is there on the process to be built and I heard he hit straight on that with his bike. He had a lot of bleeding but no one was there to save him as it was too late at night. He was found dead in the morning.”
Suresh was saying, “He was an amazingly skillful player. He was with me for three years at East Bengal and we had so many fond memories. Personally, it’s a big loss for me.”
Kuluthungan also played for Mohun Baagan and Mohammedan Sporting.