ZEE Exclusive: Eyewitness Sonu Mahal narrates the Sushil Kumar brawl incident which led to Sagar Rana's murder

India wrestler Sushil Kumar and his associate Ajay were sent to 14 days of judicial custody last week after the 2-time Olympic medalist was in police custody after being arrested in connection with the murder of 23-year-old wrestler Sagar Rana in Delhi.

While a fight over property was established early in the investigation, it has come to light that the feud between Sushil and Sagar wasn’t just about property.

Notably, Police are yet to find the real motive behind Sagar Rana's murder but as per Sonu Mahal, who is the key witness in the case and was the friend of the deceased, Sushil wanted to teach a lesson to Sagar, who was challenging the decorated wrestler’s hold at the Chhatrasal stadium.

In an exclusive interview with Zee News, Sonu narrated the whole incident, which took place on May 5 and led to the murder of Sagar Rana.

“I and Sagar were sitting in our rented room when 30 to 40 people, who were with Sushil, came to our room and took us downstairs on the gunpoint and forced us to sit in a car, in which Sushil was already present,” Sonu said.

“Then they took us to the Chhatrasal Stadium and as soon as we stepped out of the car at 11:30 pm, they started beating us. The group of 30-40 people also consisted of some wrestlers and goons. Even a few members from Neeraj Bawana Gang and Asoda Gang were also part of the group and some of them also fired shots to make us feel afraid," he added.

Sushil and Sagar couldn’t stand each other

As per Sonu, Sushil was jealous of Sagar as he was a promising budding wrestler and had already made name for himself among young wrestlers in Chhatrasal stadium. The issues between the two wrestlers escalated when in 2020, Sagar managed to get himself a different arena for practice in the stadium by approach and around 40 disciples of Sushil also left with Sagar to practice with him due to which Sushil felt insulted and wanted to take revenge from the young wrestler.

“We had vacated Sushil’s wife flat a long time back, so that wasn’t the reason behind the brawl,” Sonu claimed.

“Sushil has always been indulged in hooliganism and vandalism. He is even in contact with numerous gangsters, including Bhatti and Lawrence Bishroi. Sushil was even friends with Kala Jethari, who is my cousin brother,” the eyewitness said.

According to Sonu, Bhura, who is a close aide of Sushil Kumar, drove the wrestler to the Haridwar ashram after Sagar’s murder.