- Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain was sentenced to life for IB officer Ankit Sharma's murder
- The Delhi court described the crime as extremely brutal and inclined to rarest of rare category
- Sharma was attacked with knives and stones, and his body was dumped in a drain
Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the Delhi riots in February 2020.
Announcing the sentence, Delhi's Karkardooma court said the "manner of the crime was of utmost brutality".
"The savagery did not end with the murder. His body was dragged into a drain nearby as if the hatred was still not satiated," the court said. "The crime tilts towards the rarest of rare. The monstrosity of the crime also outweighs the mitigating circumstances," it said.
"The final test is whether the convict is beyond redemption or not... Absence of individual role against the convicts are huge mitigating circumstances. The educational background and susceptibility and in the atmosphere of misinformation are mitigating circumstances," the court said.
Sharma, 26, a security assistant with IB, was dragged by the mob and attacked with knives, sticks, rods and stones before his body was dumped in a drain during the violence that swept through northeast Delhi in February-end. The body with at least 51 knife wounds was found the next day.
Hussain's lawyer Tara Narula said he was only in the crowd and not directly linked to the crime. In a statement, the former AAP councillor said he would continue to fight for justice.
"The court has only two options - life sentence or death sentence. The court agreed that it was a case of vicarious liability, means of the five accused, none used a knife... We believe our client is innocent. We are preparing to file an appeal," Narula told reporters.
In a statement, the former AAP councillor said he would continue to fight for justice. "Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied. I will get justice from the high court. The match was fixed," he said.
The chargesheet had said that on February 25, at around 5 pm, Sharma was trying to pacify two groups near Hussain's house when he was surrounded by the mob.
Soon after the sentencing, Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra said in a post on X, "Tahir Hussain's life imprisonment sentence is the beginning of justice. The cruelty with which Ankit Sharma ji was killed, stabbed with knives even after death, the body thrown into a drain - this is certainly the rarest of rare. It is hoped that in the high court, this life imprisonment will be converted to the death penalty."
