Northern Railways suspend Sushil Kumar after arrest in murder case

The double Olympic medalist is currently in the custody of the Delhi Police.

Northern Railways have announced the suspension of celebrated wrestler Sushil Kumar following his arrest by Delhi Police. The suspension will remain in place until further orders are issued. The 37-year-old was a senior commercial manager with the Northern Railways. But they sent him on deputation to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in 2015.

From there, he was attached to the Chhatrasal Stadium as an officer on special duty by the Delhi Government, as part of sports development at the school level. It is here that the murder of former junior national champion Sagar Dhankar took place earlier this month. Sushil Kumar was on the run until police nabbed him from outer Delhi's Mundka area.

The post mortem report of Dhankar states that he died due to cerebral damage. This was as a result of a head injury from a blunt object. The police have sent a forensic team to collect evidence and sample from the vehicles that have been recovered in the stadium's parking lot. This is the site where the incident took place.

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Shocking details revealed

The Delhi Police's crime branch interrogated Sushil Kumar for four hours. Police said that while questioning Kumar seemed nervous and was changing his statement repeatedly. He also broke down during the interrogation and was up all night.

After this, police took Kumar and his associate Ajay Bakkarwala to three locations in Delhi - Chhatrasal Stadium, Model Town and Shalimar Bagh in connection with the incident. Delhi Police is also trying to verify a video in which Sagar Dhankar could be seen beaten up by the Olympian.

Police also said that Kumar had asked his friend Prince to record the murder. He and his friends thrashed the victims like animals as he wanted to establish fear amongst the capital's wrestling community.

What exactly happened?

Reports suggest the reason for the brawl was a property issue. Sushil Kumar owns a flat in the Model Town area, which he registered under his wife’s name. Sagar Dhankar rented that flat through a broker. Besides Dhankar, his companions were also using the flat. Dhankhar, who had links with gangster Kala Jhatedi, was not paying the flat’s rent and often threatened Sushil Kumar.

Amid all this, Kumar came to know that Dhankhar had given shelter to gangster Kala Jhatedi and his henchmen in his flat, who was using this for their stay in Delhi and operating their gang and other criminal activities from there. Sushil Kumar then asked Sagar Dhankhar to vacate the flat through a broker. Under pressure from Sushil Kumar, Sagar Dhankhar finally vacated the flat but without paying two months' rent.

Irked with this, Sushil Kumar and his close aides kidnapped Sagar Dhankhar and two of his friends and took them to the Chhatrasal Stadium. The police identified the two friends as Amit Kumar and Sonu Mahal. The latter is the nephew of Kala Jhatedi and has many cases registered against him. After his arrest, Sushil Kumar claimed that he was scared of the Kala Jhatedi gang and was trying to protect himself.

Earlier today, Delhi Police took Kumar and his associate to the Chhatrasal Stadium to recreate the crime scene that led to the demise of Sagar Dhankar.

In addition to losing his Northern Railways job, there have been suggestions that the government might take away several awards that Sushil Kumar received. This includies the prestigious Padma Shri. However, the government is unlikely to rush into a decision and will wait for more clarity on the matter.

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