Stabbed 51 Times, Body Dumped In Drain: A Murder That Shook Riot-Hit Delhi

Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Tahir Hussain and four others have been convicted by a local court for killing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer during the riots in northeast Delhi in February 2020. The body of IB officer Ankit Sharma, 26, was found in a drain on February 26 amid the communal violence.

Hussain and the four others - Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim - have been convicted for murder and rioting, among other charges. The court, however, acquitted them of the charge of criminal conspiracy.

Six others were also acquitted due to lack of evidence.

What Happened That Day

In February 2020, northeast Delhi plunged into turmoil over the protests for and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.

Violence spread fast and engulfed neighbourhoods including Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas and Mustafabad. The mobs threw stones, burnt shops and vehicles. Gunfire rang out in some of the affected areas.

Sharma had just reached home from work on February 25. He found the scene outside his house extremely tense. According to eyewitnesses and the police chargesheet, Sharma stepped out of his house seeking to pacify the mob.

He managed to reach an area where rioters had taken positions near a mosque and the former AAP MLA's house. Soon, they surrounded him and started advancing, shouting slogans.

Sharma tried to leave but they caught him and dragged him toward Hussain's house. There, they assaulted him with sharp-edged weapons and killed him.

According to Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar, the IB officer left home on the evening of February 25, 2020, but didn't return home that night. The next day, Kumar heard about a young man who had been thrown into a drain. When they found the body, Kumar, a former police officer himself, felt devastated with the huge loss.

On February 26, Kumar filed a complaint with the police to find his missing son. During the search, some local residents informed the police that a young man had been killed and his body dumped into a drain.

The body was recovered with the help of divers. The injuries and details of the postmortem report shocked the nation. His body bore 51 deep wounds inflicted by knives and other sharp-edged weapons.

Doctors pointed out he was hit several times with such force that his lungs and brain were severely damaged. He died on the spot due to excessive blood loss. They threw the body into the drain to destroy evidence and make identification of the body very difficult.

Case In Brief

In March 2023, the trial court framed charges against 11 accused, including Hussain, for offences including rioting, promoting enmity between different groups, murder and criminal conspiracy. At the stage of framing of charges, the court had recorded the prosecution's submission that Hussain incited the mob to target Hindus and told them to "not spare them".

Earlier, the Delhi High Court dismissed his bail request considering the allegations and the material placed on record.