Delhi / Olympian Sushil, others beat wrestler Sagar & his friends for 30-40 minutes: Police

New Delhi: Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar killed a fellow wrestler because his ego was bruised by rumours of his diminishing clout and he wanted to re-establish his authority among younger athletes, alleged the police in a charge sheet submitted to a Delhi court on Monday.

Kumar, who won medals at the Beijing and London Olympics, is facing charges of murdering 23-year-old wrestler Sagar Dhankad inside Chhatrasal stadium, the arena that Kumar elevated to an iconic sporting destination and inspired a generation — before his dramatic fall from grace.

“Kumar is the kingpin of the murder who hatched a conspiracy to kill Dhankad with the help of the co-accused... Since Kumar was the all-in-all of Chhatrasal stadium, therefore, he chose this place to execute his conspiracy,” said the charge sheet, seen by HT.

The 1,495-page document, which named Kumar as the main accused and 12 others as accomplices, was filed before chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) Satvir Singh Lamba. The charge sheet also said that police psychologists found him unremorseful.

The 38-year-old wrestler, who won bronze at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012, is currently lodged in solitary confinement inside Tihar’s jail number two on charges of murder, abduction, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and trespass.

Kumar has also been booked for robbery, dacoity and dishonestly receiving stolen property. Five suspects are yet to be arrested in the case.

FEELING HUMILIATED

The charge sheet said Kumar and Dhankad had a dispute over a flat in Model Town. Dhankad was living as a tenant since December 2019, and was allegedly not vacating it despite Kumar’s repeated intimations.

Though Dhankad vacated the house in March-April this year, Kumar felt humiliated by the tenants. Relations soured further, the document said, after rumours surfaced in Chhatrasal that Kumar, despite being called ‘guru’ by the younger athletes, was scared of them.

The charge sheet said Kumar suspected some of his trainees and students were passing information about him to Dhankad — and this enraged him.

“He started planning to strike them hard to teach them a lesson and re-establishing his supremacy,” said the document.

“When he realised that some of his own students/trainees were passing information about him to Sonu and Dhankad, he felt betrayed and developed deep grudge against Sonu and Sagar for loss of respect in the eyes of his students and further betrayal by them by passing his information,” the charge sheet added.

A notorious criminal, Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi ,who was arrested by the police on Saturday, also told the police that Kumar’s ego was hurt when Dhankad and Sonu refused to vacate his flat.

Kumar and his associates allegedly assaulted Dhankad and two of his friends, Amit Kumar and Sonu Mahal, on the night of May 4 . Dhankad succumbed to the injuries later.

The wrestler was arrested on May 23 after a 19-day run from the law that took him to Haridwar, Rishikesh and Punjab. At the time, the police had also announced a cash reward of ₹1 lakh for any information on him.

“He called his associates with firearms etc. from different parts of Delhi as well as from Haryana and abducted victim/injured from different parts of Delhi i.e., from Shalimar Bagh, Delhi and Model Town-III, Delhi and taken them to Chhatrasal Stadium to execute his plan of conspiracy,” the charge sheet said.

Kumar’s legal team rubbished the charge sheet.

“We have come to know that the charge sheet has been filed in the court. However, we have not been supplied the copy of the same. It was through media that we came to know that Sushil Kumar has been chargesheeted by the investigating agency. We will chalk out the defence strategy only after going through the chargesheet along with statements of the witnesses. We are confident that the said chargesheet will not hold ground in the court of law as Sushil Kumar is not involved in the offence as alleged by the investigating agency,” advocate Pradeep Rana, counsel for Kumar, said.

‘NO SIGN OF REMORSE’

In the charge sheet, police told the court that Kumar was counselled by senior forensic assistants (psychology) who observed that he would lock his jaw and shoulders indicating he was withholding information about the brawl .

The analysis also said that he showed no signs of remorse and behaved in an extremely egocentric manner. He thought that he was above the law and was extremely conceited about his name and reputation, the chargesheet said.

The police said Kumar and his associate, Ajay Kumar Sehrawat, hatched a conspiracy to kill Dhankad and Sonu. They called another accused, identified as Kala or Joginder, and asked him to bring more men with arms to Chhatrasal stadium on May 4.

Following this, a gang reached the stadium with Amit Kumar, who they had abducted on the way.

According to the charge sheet, the victims were beaten for around 30-40 minutes with hockey sticks and baseball bats.

“Some of the accused persons were carrying firearms with them and they threatened victims for dire consequences. Meanwhile, the gate of the stadium was also bolted/locked from inside and guards were directed to run away from the spot,” the charge sheet said.

The police said Kumar and his associate, Ajay Kumar Sehrawat, hatched a conspiracy to kill Dhankad and Sonu. They called another accused, identified as Kala or Joginder, and asked him to bring more men with arms to Chhatrasal stadium on May 

According to the police, the call detail records and the video obtained from the CCTV cameras of the stadium, pointed out that all the accused were actively involved in the crime.