A Delhi court recently convicted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the 2020 murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma in North East Delhi riots. But the court acquitted Hussain of criminal conspiracy and convicted him on many other more serious charges.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of Karkardooma Court delivered the verdict after hearing the case against 11 accused. Besides Hussain, Nazim, Kashim, Anas and Javed were convicted for murder, kidnapping, promoting enmity and rioting. Proceedings against the remaining accused will continue in accordance with the law.
The court found Tahir Hussain guilty under various provisions related to promoting enmity between groups, rioting, assault, use of criminal force and murder. But it ruled that the charge of criminal conspiracy was not established against him.
The case comes due to an FIR filed at Dayalpur Police Station by Ravinder Kumar, father of Ankit Sharma.
Ankit Sharma, a 26-year-old Intelligence Bureau officer, returned home from work on 25 February 2020 but then he was out again the following day. His family searched for him and they were informed by local people that Sharma had been killed and his body thrown into the drain of Khajuri Khas near a mosque in Chand Bagh Pulia.
Police recovered Sharma's body from the drain.
In his complaint, Ravinder Kumar claimed his son had been murdered by Tahir Hussain and his associates in his office. The complaint also claimed that the accused gathered at Hussain’s office before the killing and later disposed of the victim’s body.
The case became one of the most high-profile investigations stemming from the communal violence that erupted in North East Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Following the allegations, the Aam Aadmi Party suspended Tahir Hussain from the party after his name was exposed in the investigation. On 24 March 2023, a Delhi court formally framed charges against Hussain and ten other accused.
The accused included Haseen alias Mullaji alias Salman, Nazim, Kasim, Sameer Khan, Anas, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam alias Bobby and Muntajim alias Musa.
They have been charged with rioting, rioting while armed with deadly weapons, inciting enmity between different groups, murder and criminal conspiracy under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. Hussain was also charged with abetment and making statements that encourage public mischief.
The North East Delhi riots in February 2020 witnessed widespread stone-pelting, arson, vandalism and communal violence. 53 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the clashes, which was one of the deadliest episodes of communal unrest in the national capital in the last few years.
As Special Commissioner of Police, Satish Golchha, who was the Special Commissioner of Police during the riots and supervised the investigation, said the judgment represented the professionalism and diligence of the investigating team.
He said maintaining law and order and a fair, impartial, evidence-based investigation has been the primary objective of the force. Golchha said such a verdict only reinforced the police’s commitment to bringing to justice those who had committed crimes in the 2020 riots through the due process of law.
