SC cancels bail of wrestler Sushil Kumar in Chhatrasal Stadium murder case

Kumar, along with several others, is accused of assaulting Dhankar and his two friends, Sonu and Amit Kumar, in the parking lot of Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium on May 4, 2021

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, the prime accused in the murder of junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar.

Kumar had won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver at the 2012 London Games. (File photo)

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra set aside the March 4 order of the Delhi High Court granting bail to Kumar.

Reading out the operative part of the judgment, Justice Karol allowed the petition filed by Sagar’s father assailing the bail order. The judge said that Kumar must surrender within one week.

Senior counsel Siddharth Mridul represented the deceased’s father, Ashok Dhankad, while senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appeared for Kumar in the top court.

Kumar, along with several others, is accused of assaulting Dhankar and his two friends, Sonu and Amit Kumar, in the parking lot of Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium on May 4, 2021, allegedly over a property dispute.

Dhankar, a 23-year-old wrestler from Haryana’s Rohtak, succumbed to injuries sustained in the assault, while his two companions were left injured. According to the post-mortem report, Dhankar died of cerebral damage caused by blunt force trauma.

The incident sparked a massive manhunt for the Olympian, who evaded arrest for 18 days by moving across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Delhi Police finally apprehended him in the city’s Mundka area when he arrived to collect cash, travelling on a scooty borrowed from a national-level athlete. Following his arrest on May 23, 2021, Kumar was suspended from his Railways job and placed in judicial custody, where he remained until his bail order.

In October 2022, a Delhi trial court framed charges against Kumar and 17 co-accused under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including murder, rioting, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, and offences under the Arms Act.

The Delhi Police charge sheet describes Kumar as the “kingpin” of the conspiracy, alleging that he orchestrated the attack to reassert his influence in the wrestling community after rumours of his waning clout hurt his ego. Kumar has denied these allegations.

In his bail plea before the high court, Kumar argued that he had already spent three and a half years in jail and that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon, given that only 31 of the 222 prosecution witnesses had been examined so far. The high court, taking note of the prolonged incarceration and slow pace of the trial, had granted him bail.

Kumar had won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver at the 2012 London Games.