NEW DELHI: Two-time Indian Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar will stand trial for allegedly murdering a fellow wrestler during a stadium brawl last year, a lawyer said on Thursday (October 13).
Kumar and 17 others were indicted by a Delhi court on Wednesday, more than a year after they were arrested over the death of 23-year-old junior grappler Sagar Dhankar following a long rivalry between two groups of wrestlers.
The court said investigators were able to produce enough evidence to take action against Kumar, who has pleaded not guilty and accused police of framed him.
Prosecutors are accusing the 39-year-old champion of being a “kingpin” in the sensational May 2021 murder case that shocked India’s sporting community.
He was charged with murder, kidnapping, rioting and using deadly weapons. According to prosecutors, two of the accused are still on the run.
Kumar was arrested following a week-long manhunt following the deadly brawl, which was fueled by personal and professional rivalry between the two players.
Prosecutors allege that Kumar and the other defendants beat Dhankar and his friends with clubs and other weapons outside a Delhi stadium, leaving the victim dead.
He was seen in video prosecutors say is authentic attacking the former junior wrestler, who died in hospital.
Pardeep Rana, a lawyer representing one of the defendants, said his client was arrested on fabricated charges.
“We will refute the allegations in court,” Rana told AFP.
Considered one of India’s top athletes, Kumar is the only one to have won two individual Olympic medals – silver in freestyle wrestling at the London 2012 Games and bronze at the Beijing Olympics four years earlier.
He has also represented India in other international competitions, winning three gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and one gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Moscow.
In 2009 he received India’s highest honor for athletes.
The former champion is being held in a separate cell at Delhi’s Tihar prison for security reasons.