SC cancels bail to wrestler Sushil Kumar in murder case

The Supreme Court cancelled Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s bail in the 2021 murder of wrestler Sagar Dhankar at Chhatrasal Stadium, ordering him to surrender within a week. The decision overturns Delhi High Court’s order, following an appeal by Dhankar’s father

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled bail to Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar in the murder case of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar at the Chhatrasal Stadium in the national capital.

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra set aside the March 4 order of the Delhi High Court granting bail to the wrestler.

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The wrestler has been asked to surrender within a week.

The top court’s order came on an appeal filed by Ashok Dhankar, father of Sagar Dhankar, challenging the order passed by the Delhi High Court granting bail to Kumar.

Kumar and others are accused of fatally assaulting Sagar Dhankar in May 2021 over an alleged property dispute.

Two of Sagar Dhankar’s friends were also injured in the assault.

According to the postmortem report, the victim suffered cerebral damage from the impact of a blunt object.

Kumar was arrested in May 2021 and a sessions court had granted him a week’s interim bail for his knee surgery on July 19, 2023.

The trial court in October 2022 framed IPC charges, including murder, criminal conspiracy, intimidation and rioting with a deadly weapon against Kumar aside from the Arms Act, among others.

The trial court noted that after being abducted and brought to the stadium, Sagar Dhankar was severely assaulted by several accused persons with baseball and hockey sticks.