New Delhi | A Delhi court on Monday convicted former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the sensational killing of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh was hearing the case against a total of 11 accused, including Hussain, and convicted five of them.
The court found Tahir Hussain guilty under the charges of promoting enmity, rioting, assault, criminal force and murder.
The case pertains to an FIR registered at Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Ravinder Kumar, father of Ankit Sharma.
According to him, Ankit Sharma, who was posted with the Intelligence Bureau, had returned home from office on February 25, 2020, before stepping out again.
When he did not return for a long time, his family began searching for him, only to be informed by locals that his son had been killed and his body thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain near a mosque in the Chand Bagh pulia area.
Sharma's body was subsequently recovered from the drain.
In his complaint, Ravinder Kumar alleged that his son was murdered by the then AAP councillor Hussain and others. It said they had allegedly assembled at Hussain's office, and Ankit's body was disposed of after the murder.
Hussain was suspended by the Aam Aadmi Party after his name came up in the case.
On March 24, 2023, a Delhi court framed charges against Hussain and 10 others.
The other accused include Haseen alias Mullaji alias Salman, Nazim, Kasim, Sameer Khan, Anas, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam alias Bobby and Muntajim alias Musa.
The accused were charged under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapons, promoting enmity between groups, murder and criminal conspiracy.
Hussain was additionally charged with abetment and statements conducing to public mischief.
The incident occurred during the communal violence that erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The clashes, marked by incidents of stone-pelting, arson and vandalism, had left 53 people dead and scores of others injured.
New Delhi | Nearly six years since the killing of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma, the conviction of local politician Tahir Hussain has brought some relief to his family, yet a gaping void refuses to leave them.
A Delhi court on Monday convicted Hussain and four others for being involved in the killing of Sharma, who was attacked by a mob and thrown into a drain during the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February 2020.
The verdict has revived painful memories for Sharma's family, which has been rebuilding its life away from Delhi.
"It is very difficult to explain what our family is going through right now. There is a sense of relief because the court has convicted some of the accused, but at the same time, all the painful memories have come rushing back," a member of Sharma's family, requesting anonymity, told PTI.
The victim's brother said the conviction has forced the family to relive the harrowing moment when they first heard of Sharma's death.
"There is grief, there is anger, and there is an emptiness that can never be filled. We lost one of the strongest pillars of our family, and no judgment can bring him back," he said.
Family members said their lives changed completely after the violence, and they decided to leave Delhi within a few months of the incident.
"We shifted out of Delhi just two or three months after the incident. We never felt safe staying there after what happened. We now live in a rented accommodation in Uttar Pradesh. Our lives have completely changed. The sense of fear stays with us," he said.
Recalling the day of the incident, the family member said Sharma had only gone to assess the situation as part of his duty.
"My brother was on duty when they brutally murdered him. He was serving the country. Intelligence Bureau officers generally do not disclose their identity, so he identified himself as a Delhi Police official.
"He was asked by his seniors to go and check the situation. What was his fault? He was simply doing his duty. We believe he was targeted because of his religion, and that pain has stayed with us every single day," the brother said.
He said the family is grateful for the conviction, but full justice will happen when everyone involved in the killing is held accountable.
"We want the accused to be awarded the strictest punishment. Today, only a few have been convicted. We want every single person who was involved in my brother's murder to face the law … They need to be hanged," he said.
The family member said the verdict had brought back memories of Sharma's final days.
"My brother's birthday was on February 2, and just a few days later, we lost him. He was young, full of dreams, and was thinking about getting married. Our entire family's future changed forever after that day," he told PTI.
The case pertains to an FIR registered at Dayalpur Police Station on a complaint by Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar.
According to the complaint, Sharma, who was posted with the Intelligence Bureau, returned home from work on February 25, 2020, before stepping out again to assess the situation in the area.
When he did not return, his family began searching for him and later learnt that he had been attacked by a mob and his body thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain at the Chand Bagh pulia. His body was later recovered from the drain.
Kumar alleged that his son was murdered by Hussain and others who had assembled at the former councillor's office.
On March 24, 2023, a Delhi court framed charges against Hussain and 10 others.
According to the chargesheet, Hussain led the mob from his house and from a mosque near Chand Bagh Pulia on February 24 and 25, 2020, and allegedly gave the violence a communal colour by provoking people against Hindus.
The chargesheet alleged that the mob later caught hold of Sharma, dragged him to Chand Bagh Pulia, assaulted him with sharp and blunt weapons that killed him and threw his body into the drain.
The incident happened as communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The clashes, marked by stone-pelting, arson and vandalism, left 53 people dead and scores injured.
On Monday, Hussain broke down in court as Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh pronounced him guilty, while his counsel tried to console him. Hussain was an Aam Aadmi Party councillor at the time of the incident but was later suspended by the party after his name surfaced in the case.
Besides Hussain, it convicted Nazim, Qasim, Javed and Anas, though not all were convicted under the charge of murder. The court acquitted six accused.
"Insaaf nahi hua hai," (justice has not been done)," Hussain said, while he was being taken away from the courtroom after his conviction.
New Delhi | The judgement in the Ankit Sharma case was not a victory for either side, Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey said on Monday after a court convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others in the sensational killing of the Intelligence Bureau officer during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
"In such cases, everyone loses," Pandey said, adding the victim's family had suffered, and now the family of the convicted accused would also suffer.
It was society that had lost and the verdict was not a victory for either side, he said.
Hussain's counsel Tara Narula also said that justice was not meted out to "Ankit Sharma or his family and certainly not to Tahir Hussain".
"We are of course disappointed, but I am also confident that we ran a very good trial. We did break the witnesses and I don't think justice has been served today, not to Ankit Sharma or his family and certainly not to Tahir Hussain," Narula told PTI, adding they will wait for the detailed judgement.
"We will of course be taking our chances in appeal as well," she said.
The counsel said the six who have been acquitted "had a very good case and that was even recognised by the trial court".
She said Hussain is disappointed. "He wants to know why this injustice has been meted on him but we don't have answers for him like we don't have answers for the public as yet because we haven't seen the judgment," the counsel said.
Hussain broke down in court as Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh pronounced him guilty, while his counsel tried to console him.
He was an AAP councillor at the time of the incident but was later suspended by the party when his name came up in the case.
The court convicted five accused and acquitted six others.
The court convicted Hussain under IPC sections 302 (murder), 153A (promoting enmity), 149 (rioting), 355 (assault on criminal force and murder) read with 149, 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 147 (punishment for rioting).
However, Hussain was acquitted of IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 109 (punishment for abetment) read with 149.
It also convicted Nazim, Qasim, Javed, Anas under the same charges except murder.
The court acquitted Haseen alias Mullaji alias Salman, Firoz, Gulfam, Soyab, Sameer Khan, Muntajim alias Musa in the case.
The judge orally pronounced the verdict in the presence of all the accused and directed the police to take into custody Anas and Javed, who were out on bail.
The case pertains to an FIR registered at Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Ravinder Kumar, father of Ankit Sharma.
According to the complaint, Sharma, who was posted with the Intelligence Bureau, had returned home from office on February 25, 2020, before stepping out again.
When he did not return for a long time, his family began searching for him, only to be informed by locals that his son had been killed and his body thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain near a mosque in the Chand Bagh pulia area. Sharma's body was subsequently recovered from the drain.
In his complaint, Kumar alleged that his son was murdered by Hussain and others. It said they had allegedly assembled at Hussain's office, and Ankit's body was disposed of after the murder.
New Delhi | Following is the chronology of events in the 2020 IB officer Ankit Sharma murder case, in which a Delhi court on Monday convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and 4 others.
- February 2020: Communal violence erupts in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, leaving 53 people dead and several others injured.
- February 25, 2020: Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma goes missing after stepping out of his home in northeast Delhi during riots.
- February 26, 2020: Sharma's body is recovered from the Khajuri Khas drain near the Chand Bagh pulia area. His father, Ravinder Kumar, lodges an FIR at Dayalpur Police Station, accusing former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and others of his son's murder.
- June 3, 2020: Delhi Police Crime Branch files a chargesheet in the Karkardooma courts against ten persons, including Tahir Hussain, now suspended from the party. The accused are charged with kidnapping, murder and rioting in the Chand Bagh area on February 25.
- August 21, 2020: Delhi court takes cognisance of the chargesheet.
- March 24, 2023: Delhi court frames charges against Tahir Hussain and 10 other accused under various IPC provisions, including murder, rioting, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy.
- July 13, 2026: Delhi court convicts Tahir Hussain and four others in the murder case. Hussain is convicted of murder but acquitted of criminal conspiracy and abetment charges. Six co-accused are acquitted. The court says the detailed judgment and hearing on the sentence will follow.
New Delhi | The BJP on Monday welcomed a Delhi court's conviction of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain in the killing of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots and alleged that AAP and Congress had backed those accused of violence.
The remarks came after a Delhi court on Monday convicted Hussain and four others in the killing of Sharma, while acquitting six other accused.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Hussain's conviction is an indictment of the AAP and the Congress.
"Hussain has been convicted. Satyamev Jayate. It is the conviction of the entire AAP-Congress ecosystem, which was behind these anti-Hindu riots," Poonawalla alleged in a video statement.
He further alleged that the AAP had "sponsored" the riots and later defended Hussain by portraying him as a victim.
In a statement, AAP said that within hours of an FIR being registered against Tahir Hussain in the 2020 Delhi riots case, the party suspended him from its primary membership on February 27, 2020, and since then, he has had no association with AAP.
He pointed out that Hussain contested the Delhi Assembly election as an AIMIM candidate. "He contested from Mustafabad, a Muslim-majority constituency, where his candidature split the Muslim vote and ultimately helped the BJP candidate win the seat," AAP alleged.
Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra hailed the conviction of Hussain and demanded that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tender a public apology.
"Aam Aadmi Party had a strong bond with several anti-national activists which has time and again been exposed," Malhotra claimed.
The BJP alleged that the 2020 Delhi riots were "not organic" but a "sponsored attack" against Hindus.
"It was not just the murder of Ankit Sharma, but also an attack on the Hindu community. The Delhi 2020 riot is not organic; it is organised. It is a sponsored attack and it is carried out against Hindus," Poonawalla alleged.
He also claimed that the Congress and the AIMIM had defended several other accused in the riots.
"The Aam Aadmi Party not only sponsored it, it defended it. It said Tahir is being persecuted because he is a Muslim. Sanjay Singh and Amanatullah Khan said it.
"The Congress and the AIMIM also defended it. They also defended Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. All the rioters, the accused and the terrorists in this entire anti-Hindu programme were defended by the ecosystem."
"Who is this anti-Hindu ecosystem? They are the Congress, AIMIM and the Aam Aadmi Party that defended the likes of Tahir Hussain. The mask has fallen off," he alleged.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari also attacked the AAP, alleging that its leaders had defended Hussain for "vote-bank politics".
"Tahir Hussain, blue-eyed boy of AAP, gets convicted for murdering IB officer Ankit Sharma. Sanjay Singh and Kejriwal have defended Tahir Hussain for vote-bank (politics)," he said in a post on X.
He claimed that the nation would not forget that the AAP had chosen to stand with a "murderer and rioter" for electoral gains.
Delhi's tourism minister and MLA from Karawal Nagar in North East Delhi, Kapil Mishra, said that the riots were a "well-planned conspiracy to "massacre" Hindus and force them to flee from the area.
"Who was Tahir Hussain and why were AAP leaders protecting him?" Mishra said and claimed that Hussain was in touch with AAP leaders during the riots.
"Those who now pose as Sanatanis and hold Sundarkand Path tried to protect the perpetrators of the riots," Mishra said in an apparent reference to AAP leaders.
The AAP on Sunday launched a signature campaign demanding strict punishment for alleged donation theft at Ram temple in Ayodhya.
BJP MLA and Delhi government spokesperson Harish Khurana also slammed the AAP over the conviction of Hussain
"The way Kejriwal and his associates tried to protect Tahir Hussain showed he is anti-Hindu," Khurana charged and added that Hussain was a corporator of AAP at the time of the riots.
