Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar gets regular bail in wrestler murder case

Sushil Kumar was the main accused in the murder of a junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar in May 2021

Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar was on Tuesday granted regular bail by the Delhi High Court in connection with a murder case. Kumar was released after providing Rs 50,000 bail bond and two sureties of the same amount.

 

A bench headed by Justice Sanjeev Narula ordered the wrestler's release. Sushil Kumar was one of the co-accused in the murder of junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar in May 2021. Kumar moved the Delhi High Court in 2024 against a city court's order that rejected his bail application.

 

Kumar, in his petition before the Delhi High Court, argued that he had been "in jail for 3.5 years and there was no likelihood for the trial to conclude in near future since the prosecution had only examined 31 out of 222 witnesses." 

Sushil Kumar's counsel Advocate Sumeet Shokeen told news agency ANI that they were waiting for the written order. "The matter was argued today and the arguments went on for almost 1.5-2 hours. The court has appreciated all the facts of the case. Since he has been in custody for almost 3.5 years now, and even after such a long trial, only 31 witnesses have been examined. All those facts have been considered by the high court and regular bail has been granted," he said.

 

His second counsel Advocate RS Malik said, "There has been a long delay. He has been in jail for the last 3.5 years. All witnesses have been examined. No evidence has been presented against him so far. The court considered this as one of the grounds for bail, so he was granted bail today. Thirty one witnesses have been examined." 

Sagar Dhankar murder case

Sagar Dhankar, a 23-year-old junior wrestler, was allegedly beaten on May 4, 2021, at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium. Unable to recover, Dhankar succumbed to his injuries. 

 

Dhankar died while two of his friends got injured after they were thrashed by Sushil Kumar and other accused in the case. Following this, Sushil Kumar and others were arrested on May 23, 2021.