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Synopsis

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ), Shivaji Anand, of the Rohini Courts, Delhi, on Wednesday, framed charges under Section 302 IPC (Murder) and other offences against Wrestler Sushil Kumar and 17 others in connection with the killing of a 27-year-old wrestler Sagar Dhankar, at Chhatrasal Stadium, in May, 2021.

After a joint reading of witnesses statements, as well as the location chart, medical evidences, and other evidence mentioned in the charge sheet, ASJ Anand stated that there was a strong case of murder and attempted murder in this case.

ASJ Anand, also framed charges under IPC Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), 142 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), and 149 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon) (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object).

Counsel appearing for Kumar argued that the punishment of criminal conspiracy does not stand in the present case.

To this, the court stated that as the conspiracy is hatched in secrecy and there may be no direct evidence, the circumstances surrounding the incident can be considered to determine whether the accused persons had pre-concert or not.

"In the present case, the facts and circumstances clearly show that all of the accused persons conspired to cause the abduction of Sagar, Jai Bhagwan alias Sonu and Bhagat, and beatings to the victims, resulting in the death of Sagar Dhankar," the court noted.

Court added that the whole episode of torture extended for about 3-4 hours during the night and the fact, as per the victims' statements, the beatings lasted 30-40 minutes raises the question of whether all of the accused persons conspired to beat the victims, resulting in Sagar's death.

“What is also noteworthy is that all the accused persons had fled away from the place of occurrence when police reached there. None of the accused persons, though stated to be co-wrestlers practicing at Chattrasal stadium, make any effort to take the victim to the hospital for treatment,” the court further added.

Conclusively, the court framed charges against the accused persons namely, Kumar, Prince, Ajay Kumar, Mohit, Manjeet, Gulab, Bhupender, Rohit Malik, Bijender, Anirudh Dahiya, Subhash, Gaurav Loura, Surjeet Grewal, Anil Dhiman, Praveen Dabas, Praveen, Rahul, and Parveen Dabas under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention). Additionally, the court framed attempted murder charges for injuries inflicted on other victims.

Case Title: State v. Sushil Kumar