New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday, October 12, framed charges relating to murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Olympian Sushil Kumar and 17 others in the Chhatrasal Stadium murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Shivaji Anand of the Rohini court passed the order on Wednesday, setting the stage for trial. A detailed order is still awaited.

According to the police, the 37-year-old champion wrestler along with his associates assaulted fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankar (23) allegedly over a property dispute. Dhankar succumbed to injuries later. The post-mortem report said that Dhankar had died due to cerebral damage resulting from the impact of a blunt object.

The incident took place on May 4, 2021 at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium. In the aftermath of the incident, Kumar was on the run for three weeks when police arrested him and coaccused Ajay from outer Delhi's Mundka area. Kumar has been in jail since June 2, 2021.

In its status report filed before the court, Delhi Police told that Kumar was the "kingpin" in the case who had conspired with other co-accused to arrange weapons and men to commit the offence, NDTV reported.

Last year, on May 18, Kumar had filed a plea for anticipatory bail at Delhi's Rohini court. He had claimed that the investigation against him was "biased" and that injuries caused to the victim could be attributed to him. However, the court declined his plea, stating that he was "prima facie the main conspirator" and that allegations against him were serious in nature.

Kumar had also moved a bail plea in March this year whilst being in jail. He had told the court that the police had left no stone unturned to present a "false and guilty image" of him, by feeding false information to the media to wrongly link him and some gangsters.

However, Delhi Police, opposing the bail plea, had told the Delhi high court that witnesses in the case were terrified of him and his associates. It said, in fact, one of the witnesses had even moved the court seeking protection, arguing for his bail plea to be declined.

Kumar clinched a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics.

(With PTI inputs)

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