Himalaya Harbinger, Uttarakhand Bureau
New Delhi: Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Tahir Hussain and four others have been convicted by a local court for killing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer during the riots in northeast Delhi in February 2020. The body of IB officer Ankit Sharma, 26, was found in a drain on February 26 amid the communal violence.
Hussain and the four others – Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim – have been convicted for murder and rioting, among other charges. The court, however, acquitted them of the charge of criminal conspiracy.
What Happened That Day
In February 2020, northeast Delhi plunged into turmoil over the protests for and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.
Violence spread fast and engulfed neighbourhoods including Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas and Mustafabad. The mobs threw stones, burnt shops and vehicles. Gunfire rang out in some of the affected areas.
Sharma tried to leave but they caught him and dragged him toward Hussain’s house. There, they assaulted him with sharp-edged weapons and killed him.
According to Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, the IB officer left home on the evening of February 25, 2020, but didn’t return home that night. The next day, Kumar heard about a young man who had been thrown into a drain. When they found the body, Kumar, a former police officer himself, felt devastated with the huge loss.
Case In Brief
In March 2023, the trial court framed charges against 11 accused, including Hussain, for offences including rioting, promoting enmity between different groups, murder and criminal conspiracy. At the stage of framing of charges, the court had recorded the prosecution’s submission that Hussain incited the mob to target Hindus and told them to “not spare them”.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court dismissed his bail request considering the allegations and the material placed on record.
