Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar had asked four Haryana-based criminals to travel to Chhatrasal Stadium, where the brawl which led to the death of Sagar Dhankhar took place, police said after making arrests on Wednesday.
Sagar, a former junior national champion, was allegedly beaten for 25 minutes till police arrived on the scene following a PCR call, it is learnt as per a report in The Indian Express.
DCP (Rohini district) Pranav Tayal said the arrested men have been identified as Bhupender (38), Mohit Aasoda (22), Gulab (24) and Manjeet (29).
‘Encroachment of property’ and ‘threat to eliminate’ were the reasons for the dispute which resulted in Sagar’s death on 5 May, according to police sources.
Following inquiry of those arrested, police have learnt that all four were at Asoda village in Bahadurgarh when they spoke to Sushil. They had come to know about Sushil being at loggerheads from one Kala Satta. When Manjeet rang up Ajay Kumar, the physical education teacher at the Chhatrasal Stadium, to scoop out more details, Sushil came on the line.
Sushil reportedly instructed them to come to Chhatrasal Stadium after switching off their mobile phones, according to a police officer.
Bhupendra was arrested in 2011 for a double murder. Mohit is a henchman of gangster Naveen Bali. After Neeraj Bawana was arrested, Bali has been in charge of operations for the gang, the report stated.
According to Tayal, during the interrogation of those arrested, they disclosed that on 5 May, they came to Chhatrasal stadium. “At around 12 am, they all reached the stadium in two vehicles, a Scorpio and a Breeza. They were actively involved in the crime and they have narrated the sequence of events and details of other persons involved in the crime. On hearing the police siren, they could not escape in their vehicles and left their cars and their weapons at the spot,” Tayal said.
When the quartet reached Chhatrasal, they allegedly claimed to have witnessed Sushil and a dozen others beating two men identified as Ravinder and Amit in order to ascertain the whereabouts of Sagar, a police officer informed.
Upon gaining awareness of Sagar’s location, Sushil along with 15 men reportedly went to the Model Town area and abducted Sagar, Sonu Mahal and Bhagat Pehelwaan. All three were assaulted during the drive back to Chhatrasal and also on reaching the stadium, the report claimed.
“Mohit also said during questioning that they started beating Sagar around 12.45 am till 1.05 am. In the meantime, Ravindra managed to escape and made a PCR call. However, on hearing the police siren they left their vehicles at the spot and some of them slipped out through the back gate of the stadium,” a police officer noted.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)