Delhi Police arrested Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar in murder of wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar
New Delhi, May 23
Delhi Police Special Cell arrested olympic medallist Sushil Kumar from Delhi on Sunday in connection with the murder former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankhar.
Kumar was arrested from Mundka. The police were on a hunt for him since May 5.
Sushil Kumar was on the run since May 5 after the news of the death of wrestler Sagar Dhankar surfaced and a FIR was registered against him under IPC Sections 302 (murder), abduction (365), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) at Model Town police station.
Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava had already announced Rs 1 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest of Sushil Kumar and also took non-bailable warrant against him from the court.
As per the case details, Dhankhar, who had competed in the 97-kg Greco-Roman category, was beaten to death following a clash between two groups on May 4.
A Delhi court on May 18 had rejected the anticipatory bail filed by Sushil Kumar and observed that the allegations against the champion wrestler were serious.
According to police, investigation has revealed that Kumar had travelled between Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana while trying to evade arrest. The Delhi Police has also received leads that suggest that Sushil, along with the others who are said to be involved in the May 4 clash at Chhatarshal wrestling academy, might have used multiple SIM cards to cover their tracks.
The officials said that Sushil left home as soon as the news of the 23-year-old’s death broke. On May 5, he left his house at around 9.30 am after he came to know that Sagar succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment. He had come to Shalimar Bagh where he met his old associate. Later, the two took a car and travelled to Uttarakhand. From there, they moved to Muzaffarnagar, and later they returned to Delhi. The police, during their investigation, have obtained CCTV footage from Meerut toll point that shows Sushil entering Delhi on May 6.
The police had recorded statements of several persons who had testified that it was Sushil Kumar who had beaten up Dhankar. A quarrel had allegedly taken place between Sushil Kumar, Ajay, Prince Dalal, Sonu, Sagar, Amit and others in the parking area of the stadium, officials added.
The police have also detained a person from the city who allegedly arranged around 10 SIM cards for Sushil and his associate Ajay Kumar, a physical education teacher at Chhatrasal Stadium.
During the hearing of the anticipatory bail, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava had opposed Kumar’s plea and told the court, “We have the electronic evidence wherein Sushil Kumar is seen with a ‘danda’.”
