BUMRAH GRANDPA’S WISH TO MEET CRICKETER NOT FULFILLED
Santokh was found dead in Ahmedabad on Sunday; the 84yearold died in utter penury
RUDRAPUR: The last wish of Santokh Singh Bumrah, the grandfather of cricketer Jasprit Singh Bumrah, to meet his grandson remained unfulfilled.
Santokh was found dead in Ahmedabad on Sunday. His body was fished out from the Sabarmati, according to an agency report. The 84-year-old, who lived in utter penury in Uttarakhand’s Kichha town, was in Gujarat to meet Jasprit, who was separated from him after the death of his father in 2001.
In July during an interview to Hindustan Times, Santokh didn’t give details about why he didn’t meet Jasprit all these years but had indicated of ‘sour relations’ with his daughter in law. Jasprit was raised by his mother in Ahmedabad.
The cricketer had some good seasons for Mumbai Indians at the Indian Premier League (IPL), and then got into the Indian team during the Australia series in 2015-2016. Since then, there has been no looking back for the fast bowler.
When HT contacted Santokh’s younger son in Kichha, he was trying to gather details from Ahmedabad. “I also got to know about it through the media. I’m trying to contact my sister who lives in Ahmadabad,” Jaswinder Singh Bumrah told Hindustan Times.
Their rented house wore a deserted look on Sunday.
The senior Bumrah was a successful businessman during the 80s and 90s, having three factories in Gujarat. Santokh had said Jasprit’s father would assist him in running the business.
But hard times fell upon him and Santokh suffered heavy losses that forced him to sell his whole property.
His son and Japrit’s father Jasveer Singh Bumrah died after which Santokh shifted to Kichha in 2006 with Jaswinder. Santokh bought three-wheelers to survive and continued to live in poverty.
“Few years ago, he came to know that Jasprit has become a cricketer and is a member of the Indian cricket team. He yearned to see him and went to Ahmadabad to meet him but Jasprit’s mother didn’t allow him. He returned disappointed,” Jasprit’s uncle Jaswinder said.
“He had even written a letter to the Uttarakhand chief minister urging him to help him meet Jasprit.”
Santokh again went to Ahmedabad on November 22 in the hope of meeting his grandson but failed again, Jaswinder added.
While Jaswinder is jobless, Santokh’s two brothers live in Kichha and own their businesses. “Santokh was penniless and remained in a miserable condition for a long time. His daughter Rajinder Kaur used to support him financially,” a neighbour, who did not wish to be named, told HT.
Yogesh Upadhyay, inspector, Kotwali, Kichha, said the police were yet to get detail “We too came to know from the media about the incident,” he said.