Sushil Kumar denied bail by Delhi court in Sagar Dhankar murder case
Sushil Kumar and several other wrestlers are accused of fatally assaulting Sagar Dhankar and his friends over an alleged property dispute in May 2021. Sushil was arrested in May 2021 on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, and rioting.
Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar was denied bail plea by a Delhi Court in connection with the murder of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar at Chhatrasal Stadium on Friday, February 6.
The bail application was heard by Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Kumar. The Olympian wrestler and several other grapplers are accused of fatally assaulting Dhankar and his friends over an alleged property dispute in May 2021.
The post-mortem report revealed that Dhankar suffered cerebral damage caused by the impact of a blunt object. The assault saw two of his friends also sustaining injuries in the alleged assault.
Kumar was arrested in May 2021. He was granted a week's interim bail on July 19, 2023, to undergo knee surgery. In October 2022, the trial court framed charges against Kumar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, and rioting with a deadly weapon. Charges were also framed under provisions of the Arms Act.
The trial court noted that Dhankar was abducted, taken to the stadium, and brutally assaulted by multiple accused persons using baseball and hockey sticks.
Last year in August, the Supreme Court had cancelled Kumar's bail after an appeal was filed by Ashok Dhankar, the victim Sagar Dhankar's father, challenging the High Court's March order. Kumar, who was one of the prime accused of former junior wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar's assault and murder on May 4, 2021, at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium, had gotten bail by a High Court order on March 4 earlier this year, passed by Justice Sanjeev Narula.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra passed the order of cancellation of Kumar's bail and further directed him to surrender within a week. Dhankar's father, in his appeal challenging Kumar's bail, alleged that the Olympian threatened a key witness in the case. Kumar was lodged in Tihar jail for alleged involvement in the 2021 Junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar murder case. He was earlier granted seven days interim bail for knee surgery in July 2023.