New Delhi: Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, who is in Delhi’s Tihar jail on a murder charge, is giving bodybuilding and fitness advice to other inmates, including JNU scholar Umar Khalid, ThePrint has learned.
Khalid — who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2020 in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots that occurred earlier that year, he is in the same ward as Kumar, a source in jail said.
There are several jails in Tihar, and within these jails there are different wards that are part of the cells for the prisoners.
Kumar is housed in Jail No. 2. He is accused of killing Sagar Dhankar, a 23-year-old junior wrestler, after a fight at the Chhatrasal wrestling academy on May 4 last year. Dhankar allegedly defeated with hockey sticks, baseball bats and truncheons, which led to his death, after which Kumar fled the scene and was in the race for more than three weeks.
According to a source in Tihar, Kumar’s daily exercise routine of more than two hours — including push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and jogging on the spot — inside his cell, he got “a lot of people interested in bodybuilding and fitness, just by watching him work out.”
Many inmates, the sources said, began asking him for “bodybuilding advice.”
“Although he exercises mainly inside his cell, he also sometimes exercises outside when the cells are open and inmates are allowed to leave, between 6am and 12 noon. He gets up early and follows a strict exercise routine. He has not been given any equipment and uses his own body weight to exercise,” the source told ThePrint.
Inmates at Tihar spend a few hours outside their respective cells between 06:00 and 12:00, and then between 15:00 and 18:30, every day. This is the time when they can talk to others in their neighborhood and get moving.
ThePrint contacted Khalid’s attorney, lead attorney Trideep Pais, by phone for comment on this report, but there was no response.
Read also: Mud, Medals, Money, Even Murder: Inside India’s Secret Akhadas, Beyond Sushil Kumar
‘Inmates ask him about grip locks, building muscle, losing weight’
When asked if Kumar is training any of the inmates in bodybuilding, the source said, “not as of now.”
“He’s not training anyone in bodybuilding, but he certainly has people interested in fitness. When inmates come out of their cells during those fixed times, they talk to each other. Since Kumar is a wrestler, people are interested in knowing about his fitness, some bodybuilding tips, which he is very happy to share,” the source said.
“Inmates ask you to suggest which exercises are good for them to build muscle. Some ask about losing weight or even techniques like grappling locks, pins, throws and takedowns,” the source added.
The source further said that although Kumar gives his fellow inmates advice on what a fighter’s diet should include to gain muscle, he is not being given any special diet.
“He is being given normal food, which is nutritious. He has not demanded any special food,” added the source.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Read also: The Tihar prisoner was granted a 3-week furlough in 2011. A decade later, he still hasn’t given up.
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