Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain was suspended from party membership on Thursday after he was charged with murder in connection with the death of Intelligence Bureau (IB) employee, Ankit Sharma.
Sharma’s body was recovered from Delhi’s Chand Bagh amid violence in the area over the Citizenship Amendment Act. Hussain has been booked under section 302 IPC (Punishment for murder) at Dayalpur police station.
Sharma’s family accused Hussain of being behind the death. The councillor, however, has denied the allegations as “baseless” and called for an impartial probe.
The Delhi Police has registered a murder case against AAP Counciller Tahir Hussain in the killing of IB staffer Ankit Sharma, sources said on Thursday.
The case has been registered on the basis of a complaint given by Sharma's father and Hussain has been booked under section 302 (Murder) among other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Sharma's body was recovered on Wednesday from a sewer in Jafarabad and the autopsy report on Thursday said that he was brutally stabbed to death. His family has alleged Hussain's supporters brutally assaulted Sharma and killed him.
People in the neighbourhood have alleged that the AAP leader played an active role in the riots that engulfed the area since Sunday.
Delhi violence: FIR registered under section 302 IPC (Punishment for murder) at Dayalpur police station, AAP Councilor Tahir Hussain named in the 'Details' section of the FIR. pic.twitter.com/pLQyFyKxeo
— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2020
Also the house of Hussain, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) municipal councillor from Nehru Vihar, in Chand Bagh still has a number of petrol bomb bottles, acid pouches, and stones scattered on the rooftop and inside.
Pradeep manages a car parking a a few metres from Tahir Hussain's building. He breaks down as he recalls how a mob entered his place (gutted) with weapons and petrol bombs
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) February 27, 2020
"Hindu hai maaro'", the mob said
"Main bach gaya. Ankit Sharma ki jagah mera photo hota," says Pradeep pic.twitter.com/1BUtu1lMw0
Hussain's house has come under the scanner after a number of videos on social media showed over 100 to 150 people pelting stones, throwing petrol bombs and acid on Monday and Tuesday afternoon.
Delhi Chief Minister Thursday said that any person found guilty of inciting violence in the national capital should be awarded stringent punishment, irrespective of the party he or she belongs to. Kejriwal also said that the punishment should be doubled if the accused is from his party.
Replying to a question on AAP councillor’s Tahir Hussain’s alleged involvement in the violence, he said, “Police is not under me or I would have. Be it people from AAP, BJP or Congress, those who fanned the communal fire, those who orchestrated riots, should all be punished even if it is someone from my cabinet.”
Police seals a factory belonging to AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain in North East Delhi's Khajoori Khaas area. #DelhiViolence pic.twitter.com/SL7r90AFiM
— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2020
IB OPERATIVE BRUTALLY STABBED TO DEATH: POST MORTEM REPORT
Intelligence Bureau operative Ankit Sharma was brutally stabbed to death during the violence in northeast Delhi, the post mortem examination has revealed.
The autopsy report states: "Multiple abrasion.. deep cut.. by sharp edge objects." The panel of doctors, who carried out post mortem, have clearly stated that he was brutally and repeatedly stabbed, leading to his death.
A security assistant in the IB since 2017, Sharma was found dead in the violence-hit Chand Bagh locality where he resided.
Police said that Sharma, after returning home from office, went out to assess the situation and was confronted by a violent mob which beat him up and stabbed to death and then dumped his body in the drain.
His body was fished out on Wednesday.
His father Devendra Sharma, who also works with the Intelligence Bureau, said his son returned home around 5.30 pm on Tuesday and soon after left to assess the situation outside.
However, when he didn't return home for hours, the family members started looking for him. "We also went to the GTB and Lok Nayak hospitals to check whether he was admitted, but could not find him," his father said.
They kept kept searching him till 3 a.m. on Wednesday. "Later around 10 a.m., we got information that his body was lying inside the Chand Bagh drain. We never thought that he will be killed," he said.