NEW DELHI: A city court on Wednesday framed murder charges against Olympian Sushil Kumar and 17 others in the case of the death of wrestler Sagar Dhankad at Chhatrasal Stadium last year. The court also charged the two-time Olympic medal winner with rioting, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and various other offences. The incident had taken place on the intervening night of May 4-5 last year and Kumar was eventually arrested after being on the run for a fortnight. The court of additional sessions judge Shivaji Anand observed that after being kidnapped from Model Town, Dhankad was brought to the stadium and severely beaten up by “many of the accused persons, who had used lathi, danda, baseball, hockey stick etc. to cause bodily injuries”. The act was also recorded on a mobilephone by one of the accused. Wrestler murder: Delhi court points to lengthy torture While framing murder charges against champion wrestler Sushil Kumar and 17 others in the case of the death of wrestler Sagar Dhankad at Chhatrasal Stadium in 2021, a Delhi court noted that the accused were in large numbers, the victims were “tortured for a prolonged time” and the accused locked the gate of the stadium to beat up wrestler Sagar Dhankad and others. “The statements of the victims mentioned the fact that Kumar had been telling the victims the whole time that he would kill Dhankad and that he was beaten for 30-40 minutes. During the arguments, a mobile clip was also played wherein Sagar Dhankhad can be seen writhing on the ground while profusely bleeding from the legs and other parts of the body,” the court order said. Dhankad, then 23-year-old, lived in a flat owned by Kumar in Model Town. According to police, Kumar and he had some arguments over rent which escalated into the fatal brawl. The police has filed two chargesheets, naming 13 in the first one and five in the second one. A third chargesheet will be filed in the matter soon against the absconding accused. The court added that the accused had the right to argue in their defence but they cannot place documents beyond the chargesheet to make a case of discharge at the stage of framing charges unless the evidence was strong enough to demolish the case of the prosecution. After recording the submissions by the lawyers appearing for the accused, the deceased wrestler and the state, the court remarked: “While framing charges, no roving inquiry or weighing of the proposed evidence in golden stage is required. Only the prima facie case has to be seen without evaluating all the evidence as to cull out the conclusion of the whole case.” “The evidence available on record has to be seen collectively as to see whether a prima facie case is made out against the accused persons or not. The court is not supposed to follow the final opinion submitted in the chargesheet without application of mind,” the court added. The counsel for Dhankad submitted that there was a clear motive for Kumar to eliminate Dhankhad since the latter was a rising star who could in all possibility “dethrone the supremacy of Sushil Pehlwan in the arena of wrestling” and thus he killed Dhankad in “a very brutal and diabolic manner”. The special public prosecutor told the court that the allegations in the chargesheet were serious and such an act could not have been committed without planning. He further pointed out that not only the mens rea (criminal intent) but the actus reus (guilty act) for the murder was clearly made out as Dhankad was mercilessly beaten up by accused Kumar and the other co-accused with such intensity and for such duration that death was certain. The others who have been charged include Parveen Dabas, Anirudh Dahiya, Gaurav Lara, Surjeet Grewal, Anil Dhiman, Rohit Malik, Bijender, Rahul, Prince, Ajay Kumar, Mohit, Manjeet, Gulab, Bhupinder and Choti.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/sushil-kumar-17-others-face-murder-charge-in-case-of-death-of-a-wrestler/articleshow/94823445.cms