Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, arrested on grounds of his alleged connection with the Chhatrasal Stadium brawl that led to the death of wrestler Sagar Dhankad, was interrogated for almost four hours on Monday, 24 May, the Delhi Police said.
During his interrogation, Kumar said that his only intention was to scare Dhankad, the 23-year-old junior national champion, who was killed during the brawl on 4 May. And that is why Dhankad was subjected to a thrashing, Kumar said as per the report in Livehindustan, which quoted police officials.
Kumar and his associate Ajay Kumar Sehrawat were arrested on Sunday, 23 May, from outer Delhi’s Mundka region, after being on the run for roughly three weeks.
According to a Times of India interview with one of Kumar’s lawyers BS Jakhar, there was an intention or conspiracy to frame Sushil Kumar. Jakhar was reported as saying that when police took the statements of three injured people on the night of 4 May, none of them named Sushil in their statements.
Sushil’s defence has denied the allegations against him and said the incident was just a quarrel between two groups at the stadium. “I came just to intervene and resolve it”, is the defence Sushil’s lawyers have presented in the court from Sushil’s side. Jakhar added, that’s what the truth is.
The Case so Far
On 4 May, two groups of wrestlers clashed with each other at Chhatrasal Stadium, leading to the death of 23-year-old Dhankar due to injuries he sustained during the brawl.
On 18 May, Kumar had moved an anticipatory bail petition in Delhi's Rohini court, but the court rejected his bail plea. Last week, Delhi Police had announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for feedback on the wrestler who had been absconding since the night of 4 May.
Kumar was sent to a six-day police custody and the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch. Jakhar also said that there was no CCTV footage found of the alleged kidnapping, and if there is a video, then it should be made public.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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