Tahir Hussain Convicted in 2020 Delhi Riots Murder of Intelligence Officer
A Delhi court on Tuesday convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh of Karkardooma Court delivered the verdict, stating that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court examined 91 prosecution witnesses and a large volume of documentary, medical, forensic, and electronic evidence. The accused—Tahir Hussain, Javed, Anas, Nazim, and Kasim—were found guilty under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder and related offences.
Ankit Sharma, 26, went missing on February 25, 2020, during the communal violence in Northeast Delhi. His body, bearing multiple stab injuries, was recovered from a drain near Chand Bagh Pulia the following day. The prosecution argued that Sharma was intercepted by a violent mob, brutally assaulted, and murdered before his body was thrown into the drain.
Investigating officers collected CCTV footage and mobile phone recordings. A crucial video recorded by a witness on his mobile phone showed three individuals dumping the body into the Khajuri drain. The court noted that this video corroborated witness statements and helped establish the sequence of events after the murder.
The police also analyzed Call Detail Records (CDRs) and mobile tower locations to determine the whereabouts of the accused at the time of the incident. The court accepted these electronic records as legally obtained evidence.
Photo identification was used during the investigation, with witnesses identifying the accused from photographs. While the defence questioned this method, the court clarified that photo identification and Test Identification Parades are aids to investigation, with the primary evidence being in-court identification. Several witnesses identified the accused in court.
The court rejected the defence's allegations of a fabricated investigation, noting the thoroughness of the police work. The verdict comes more than six years after the February 2020 riots, which claimed over 50 lives and left hundreds injured.
