A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Tahir Hussain and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, bringing one of the most closely watched riot cases to a significant legal conclusion.
The Karkardooma Court had earlier convicted Hussain along with Nazim, Kasim, Javed and Anas on charges including murder, criminal conspiracy and rioting in connection with Sharma’s death. During the sentencing proceedings, the Delhi Police argued that the crime qualified as the “rarest of rare” case and sought capital punishment for all five convicts. The court, however, awarded life imprisonment.
The court found Hussain guilty of multiple offences, including murder, criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between communities, rioting, assault and the use of criminal force. Following the registration of the FIR in 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party had suspended Hussain and later maintained that it had completely distanced itself from him.
According to the prosecution, Hussain and the other convicts were members of an unlawful assembly that allegedly abducted and killed Ankit Sharma during the communal violence that engulfed northeast Delhi in February 2020.
The case was registered on February 26, 2020, after Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, approached police with a complaint. He stated that his son had returned home from work on February 25, left again around 5 pm to purchase household items and never came back. After searching hospitals and nearby areas without success, the family lodged a missing person’s complaint the following morning.
Investigators later recovered Sharma’s body from a nearby drain. Prosecutors alleged before the court that parts of his body, including his face, had been burnt with acid in an attempt to conceal his identity, making the case one of the most prominent criminal investigations arising out of the 2020 Delhi riots.
Reacting to the verdict, Tahir Hussain said he would challenge both his conviction and sentence before the Delhi High Court. Maintaining that the trial had not been fair, he told reporters, “We will move the High Court. We will get justice there.” He further alleged, “The match was fixed. If I get justice, it will be from the High Court.”
The case is expected to move to the Delhi High Court after Hussain files his appeal against the conviction and life sentence.
