A Delhi court on Monday convicted former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The verdict marks a major development in one of the most closely watched cases linked to the communal violence that claimed more than 50 lives.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Court held Hussain, along with co-accused Arif, Shah Alam, Javed and Gulfaam, guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and other offences under the Indian Penal Code. The court said the prosecution had established that the accused were part of an unlawful mob responsible for Sharma’s killing during the violence.
Ankit Sharma, a 26-year-old IB security assistant, went missing on February 25, 2020, amid intense clashes in northeast Delhi. His body was recovered the following day from a drain near Chand Bagh, bearing multiple stab wounds and other injuries. His family had alleged that he was attacked by a violent mob near Tahir Hussain’s residence.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on eyewitness testimonies, forensic evidence, CCTV footage, mobile phone records and other material to link the accused to the crime. Prosecutors argued that Hussain’s house was used by rioters to stockpile stones, petrol bombs and other weapons during the violence. The defence, however, maintained that Hussain had been falsely implicated and was himself a victim of the riots.
The court rejected the defence arguments and concluded that the evidence presented by the prosecution proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt. The quantum of sentence will be announced after hearing arguments from both sides.
The conviction comes more than six years after the riots, which erupted over protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and left large parts of northeast Delhi scarred by communal violence. Multiple investigations and court proceedings arising from the riots are still continuing.
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