Sushil Kumar sent to nine days’ judicial custody, cold-blooded murder, say Delhi Police

By LE Desk

New Delhi, June 3, 2021: A Delhi court sent wrestler Sushil Kumar and co-accused Ajay Kumar to nine days in judicial custody in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old wrestler.

Delhi Police had moved an application, seeking further custody of three days, stating that this was a “cold-blooded murder”. Metropolitan Magistrate Rashmi Gupta denied police further custody, stating that “as per settled law, PC remand should not be granted in a mechanical manner”, The Indian Express reported.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava told the court that police recovered one router and the “first clinching evidence that we could collect is the video.”

The APP told the court that the camera installed around Chhatrasal Stadium has been dismantled.

“He (Sushil) was the in-charge of everything there. The DVR has not been recovered. The mobile phone has to be recovered. It is clearly visible that he was carrying a danda (stick). That danda has not been recovered. The clothes he was wearing have not been recovered,” the APP told the court.

Shrivastava added that as per Sushil’s own disclosure, he had hidden himself in Haryana and other states, and police need to make recoveries to “reach the right conclusion”. He said other persons were also arrested and two or three days were taken up in doing so.

Shrivastava told the court, “It’s a cold blooded murder. Justice should be there for the victims. The whole society is looking up to this case. Will he today agree that he was there? No he will not.”

Sushil’s lawyer, Pardeep Rana told the court that Sushil is “not a dreaded criminal” but “is the victim of the circumstances.” “He is the one who brought pride to the country, not just once, but twice. He is the only person in our country who did this. He has been conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Padma Bhushan etc. But the investigating agency is hardly caring about his personal liberty,” Rana said.

Rana told the court he has “never witnessed such a case” in which police were still trying to find the clothes of the accused: “This shows they are trying to beat around the bush. I’ve gone through this application. Not a single ground is shown. In the last 10 days, you were unable to recover a danda. Police remand cannot be given unless there is a special reason given in the application or the same must be disclosed by the case diary. Out of 11, nine accused persons have been arrested and many are sent to judicial custody”.

On May 4, Sagar Dhankhar, who had competed in the 97-kg Greco-Roman category, was beaten to death following a clash between two groups. Sushil has been arrested in connection with the murder after he was on the run.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/cold-blooded-murder-delhi-police-seek-three-day-custody-of-sushil-kumar-7341242/