Delhi court puts Olympian Sushil Kumar, 17 others to murder trial for killing co-wrestler

Wrestler Sagar Dhankar and two others were allegedly abducted and beaten by Olympian Sushil Kumar from Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium on May 4, 2021. Dhankad later succumbed to his injuries.

New Delhi: A city court on Wednesday framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy and several serious offences against Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and 17 others for the murder of wrestler Sagar Dhankad at the Chhatrasal stadium in May 2021.

Sushil Kumar was arrested on May 23, 2021 on charges of murder and is currently in judicial custody. (HT File)

Dhankad and two others, Bhagat Singh and Jaibhagwan, were allegedly abducted and beaten by Kumar and his associates inside the Chhatrasal Stadium on the night of May 4, 2021. Dhankad succumbed to injuries the next day.

Kumar was arrested on May 23, 2021, on charges of murder and he is currently in judicial custody.

Additional sessions judge Shivaji Anand on Wednesday framed charges against Kumar and 17 other accused for murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting among other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Additionally, the court also framed charges of robbery, dacoity, criminal intimidation against Kumar and three others -- Anirudh, Ajay and Rohit-- noting that there was not sufficient material against the other accused persons for charging them under these sections.

The judge also added kidnapping, illegal confinement and wrongful restraint against Kumar and co-accused Rohit, Rahul, Ajay Kumar, Anirudh Dahiya, Surjeet Grewal, Anil Dhiman, Praveen Dabas and Gaurav Loura for abducting two victims, Ravinder and Amit, from Shalimar Bagh on the night when they were assaulted at the stadium.

Thirteen accused, excluding Kumar, were also charged for house trespass.

Advocate RS Malik, Kumar’s counsel, said that they will decide the next course of action only after going through the court’s order.

The police filed the charge sheet against Kumar and 12 others on August 2, for murder, abduction, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, criminal intimidation, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, house-trespass, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt.

Additionally Kumar, a two-time Olympian wrestler, has also been booked for robbery, dacoity and dishonestly receiving stolen property. In the charge sheet, the police had said that being “adamant” and “ego-centric” Kumar felt humiliated by the rumours of his diminishing clout and that he wanted to stamp his authority at the Chhatrasal stadium, where he was also known as “Guru” by his trainees and students.

Later a second supplementary charge sheet was filed in October 2021, against the remaining five accused.

Police had said that there was a clear motive for Sushil Kumar to eliminate Dhankhad “as he was a rising star” who could in all possibility dethrone the supremacy of accused “Sushil Pehlwan”.

Public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava further said that Dhankhad was mercilessly beaten by Kumar and other co-accused, with such intensity and for such duration that death was certain.

On October 1, the court had reserved the order on framing of charges after hearing arguments from all the accused and the prosecution.

In its order on Wednesday, the court said the statement of the witnesses showed that the accused had abducted and confined them in the stadium and even the main gate was locked. The judge said that the whole “episode of torture extended for about 3-4 hours during the night hours”, adding that the victims were beaten continuously for 30-40 minutes.

In its 47-page order, the court also noted that none of the accused persons, though stated to be co-wrestlers practising at Chhatrasal stadium, made any effort to take the victims to the hospital for the treatment.

The judge also added that the circumstances of the incident make it a clear case for applicability of common intention as the main gate of the stadium was locked, many of the accused persons had weapons and the beatings continued for about 30-40 minutes.

“…therefore, to say that the accused persons who had actually not given beatings are not vicariously liable is incorrect. Hence, section 34 IPC is also invoked against all the accused persons,” the judge said.

In August 2021 charge sheet, the police had attributed the motive of the murder to a dispute over a flat in north Delhi’s Model Town area between Dhankad and Kumar. Dhankad, a junior wrestling champion, was staying on rent the Model Town flat that belonged to Kumar’s wife.

Differences arose between them, and finally the house was vacated by Dhankad and Sonu Mahal in March-April 2021, police claimed. It said that even though the flat was vacated, Kumar felt humiliated as his tenants had earlier refused to empty the premises.

The charge sheet alleged that relations between Dhankad, Sonu and Kumar became bitter and tensions arose among them as there were murmurs in the stadium that Kumar, despite being such a big name, was scared of them.

It said that Kumar also suspected that some of his trainees/ students at the stadium were giving information about his movements to Sagar and Jaibhagwan @ Sonu which “enraged him” and “he started planning to strike them hard to teach them a lesson and re-establishing his supremacy”.

Kumar, a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award winner, was arrested on May 23 after he went into hiding at several places in Uttarakhand and Punjab. The city police had also announced a cash reward of ₹1 lakh for information leading to his arrest.

The police, in its charge sheet, told the court that Kumar was counselled by the senior forensic assistants during the custody who observed that he would lock his jaw and shoulders indicating he was withholding information about the incident at the stadium.