Daily Times

NEW DELHI: Indian police have put a reward on the head of two-time Olympic wrestling medalist Sushil Kumar who is wanted in connection with a murder case. The 37-year-old has been on the run since a former wrestling champion was beaten to death on May 4 and a Delhi court on Tuesday rejected a bid by his lawyers to prevent his arrest. Police have launched raids in the Delhi region and offered a $1,350 reward leading to the capture of Kumar, who won a freestyle wrestling silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze at the Beijing Games four years earlier.

Kumar, who had also won a world title and Commonwealth Games golds, was present when a former junior national champion Sagar Dhankad was beaten to death at New Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium in a clash between rival wrestlers, according to police. Kumar’s lawyers went to court Tuesday to seek anticipatory bail in the case but it was refused because of the gravity of the allegations. Dhankad, son of a Delhi police officer, died from his injuries the day after the fight. Another wrestler is under treatment and has identified the alleged attackers, police said. Just weeks from the scheduled start of the Tokyo Olympics, the Wrestling Federation of India admitted that the sport’s reputation has been tarnished by the case. The case is the second in months to hit Indian wrestling. A coach Sukhwinder Mor is awaiting trial for the murder of five people, including a rival coach, in February. Kumar was the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals and also the first in more than five decades to get a wrestling medal. His success inspired a generation of Indian wrestlers.