Delhi Riots 2020: Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain convicted in IB officer Ankit Sharma killing

A Delhi Court on Monday, July 13, convicted former Aam Aadmi Party Councillor, Tahir Hussain and four others in relation to the murder case of the Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma, in the Delhi Riots of 2020. The four other convicted are Nazim, Kasim, Javed and Anas. The court also acquitted six accused for lack of evidence.

Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Court delivered the guilty verdict to Hussain for murder, disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant, promoting enmity between groups, rioting armed with a deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, and kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person, as reported by Bar and Bench. The court said that Hussian played the role of an instigator and asked the mob “not to spare Hindus”.

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The conviction traces back to the six-year-old protest over the Citizenship Amendment Act. A group of anti-CAA protestors blocked the road near the Jaffarbad metro station on February 22, 2020. Another group issued an ultimatum to the Delhi police to clear the road, or there will be counterprotests. As anti-CAA and pro-CAA protestors collided, there was stone pelting, arson, vandalism and the death of 53 people. Ankit Sharma was an IB officer who was killed on duty on February 25, 2020. His body was recovered from the Khajuri Khas drain near a mosque in the Chand Bagh Pulia area and had multiple stab wounds. Ravinder Kumar, father of Ankit Sharma, registered an FIR at the Dayalpur police station.

Hussain was suspended from AAP on February 27, 2020, when his name appeared in the FIR as Delhi Police charged him with murder and arson. The court has yet to hear the argument on the quantum of the sentence, which is likely to be heard at a later date.