Sushil Kumar's anticipatory bail plea in wrestler's murder case dismissed by Delhi court

A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar in connection with the murder case of a 23-year-old former junior national wrestling champion, Sagar Rana. Additional Sessions Judge Jagdish Kumar after hearing the arguments had reserved the order on the pre-arrest bail filed by the two-time Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar. Fearing arrest, the wrestler had moved the Rohini court in Delhi on May 17 seeking anticipatory bail, asserting that the probe against him is biased and that no injuries caused are attributable to him. 

Appearing for Sushil Kumar, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra submitted that since the gunshots were fired in the air, a case of murder is not made out. "Most important thing, if you look at their status report, they have said that 302 (murder charges) has been invoked. If the firing was in the air, the intention was not to kill. Hence, 302 cannot be invoked," Siddharth Luthra said.  Luthra further the reply filed by the police is incomplete and misses major facts. 

Luthra also questioned the act of the prosecution of seizing Sushil Kumar's passport. "I (Sushil Kumar) am an Arjuna Awardee, I have also won many medals in the Olympics," he argued further. 

There are many reasons to arrest Sushil Kumar: Public Prosecutor

Responding to the submissions made by Sushil Kumar's attorney, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava argued, "There are many reasons to arrest him. Sushil's wife had a flat where the other accused (Sonu and one more) were staying."

"There is electronic evidence where Sushil is seen with a stick beating people," the public prosecutor told the court, adding that they too were proud of him but the passport had to be seized as they feared he may leave the country.

Rs 1 Lakh Reward For Info On Sushil Kumar Announced By Delhi Police

Delhi Police on Monday announced a reward of Rs 1,00,000 on information leading to the arrest of Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar. Apart from the reward on wrestler Sushil Kumar, Rs. 50,000 reward has also been announced for Ajay who is another absconding accused in this case. Delhi Police has been conducting raids to nab wrestler Sushil Kumar and nine others in connection with the murder of Sagar Rana.

What Is Chhatrasal Stadium Case?

Sagar Rana died, while two of his friends got injured, after they were allegedly assaulted by Sushil Kumar and other wrestlers on May 4 night, at the Chhatrasal Stadium premises in the national capital. According to the police, the brawl involved Sushil Kumar, Ajay, Prince Dalal, Sonu, Sagar, Amit and others. Dalal, a resident of Jhajjar in Haryana, was held in the case. A case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act at the Model Town Police Station. Kumar is on the run since Rana's death and the police are making efforts to trace him by conducting raids in the Delhi-NCR region and neighbouring states.

Sushil Kumar hails from Najafgarh's Baprola village, is to date India's only world champion (2010) in the sport. He is also the only one to claim two individual Olympic medals, an exceptional feat for a country that has seen limited success at the Olympics for individual events.

(Image Credits: PTI)