Former AAP leader Tahir Hussain convicted in IB officer Ankit Sharma murder case
Delhi court convicts Hussain and four others in case linked to 2020 communal violence; six accused acquitted
A Delhi court on Monday convicted former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Tahir Hussain and four others in the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 communal violence in northeast Delhi.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh convicted Hussain, Nazim, Kazim, Javed and Anas in the case. The court was hearing proceedings against 11 accused and acquitted six others.
Hussain was found guilty of charges including murder, rioting, promoting enmity and offences related to assault and use of criminal force.
The case stems from an FIR registered at Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar.
Sharma, a 26-year-old IB officer, was killed during the violence that swept parts of northeast Delhi in February 2020. His body was recovered from a drain in the Chand Bagh area, close to Hussain's house.
Sharma's family had accused the former AAP councillor of leading the mob responsible for his killing.
At least 53 people were killed and hundreds injured in the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020.
Hussain, who was a councillor from Ward 59 under the Mustafabad Assembly constituency, was suspended by the AAP after his name emerged in connection with the case. He had won the municipal election in 2017.
The former councillor had consistently denied involvement in Sharma's murder and the violence.
In a Facebook post issued after the clashes, Hussain claimed that police had taken him and his family away from his house after violence erupted in the area on 24 February.
"The police then took control of the building. When I returned on February 25, the people in the area started raising slogans against me. The police then advised me to leave the area, and I have not been to that house since then. I don't know who did what in that house," Hussain had said in Hindi.
Investigators, however, accused Hussain of playing a role in the violence and alleged that materials including glass bottles, petrol, acid and stones were collected during the riots.
The conviction marks a major development in one of the most prominent murder cases linked to the 2020 northeast Delhi violence.
The court is expected to hear arguments on the sentence to be awarded to the convicted persons.