A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application of Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar, accused in the murder of fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankar at the Chattrasal Stadium in May this year.
The 38-year-old Olympic medallist had moved the Rohini Court on Monday, seeking regular bail in the murder case.
The charge sheet, filed by Delhi Police in the murder of the 27-year-old national-level wrestler, had accused Kumar of being the kingpin of the incident.
Media sensationalised death of Sagar Dhankar: Sushil Kumar
Sushil alleged in the application that Sagar’s death was “sensationalized by the media” and the same was being “exploited against the present applicant/accused by parties with vested interest” and therefore, the present applicant/accused has “wrongly received scrutiny, despite the cardinal rule of presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.”
The application further accused the Delhi Police of deficient investigation and that “the investigating Agency has left no stone unturned to present a false and guilty image of the present applicant/accused.
Falsely implicated: Sushil
According to the application,
“The applicant/accused has been falsely implicated and incarcerated in Judicial custody since June 2, 2021. Investigation qua the applicant/accused has already been completed and he is no more required for any kind of further custodial interrogation.”
The plea stated that the FIR was a “conjoint mix of assumptions, presumptions and mala fide intentions,” which is evident from the delay in filing the FIR.
The petition stated that even though, according to the Investigation Agency’s claim there were four people who were injured and reportedly 15 eyewitnesses of the alleged incident, yet “FIR was registered on the DD entry, that too after a delay of more than six hours, which reflects apparent manipulation on part of the Investigating Agency.”
The application has also raised questions relating to a purported video of the alleged incident:
“investigating agency has alleged that the said footage was prepared by co-accused Prince, however the purported mobile phone and the IEMI qua the same demonstrate that said mobile phone was not connected with any of the accused persons in any manner and ownership of the said mobile phone.”
The application also stated that nothing incriminating has been recovered from or at the instance of Sushil Kumar and that “the investigating agency, in order to build a case against the applicant/accused, has attributed certain vehicles and weapon upon the applicant/accused, however, their involvement in the alleged offence and usage by the applicant/accused has not been proven, despite filing of the charge sheet.”