2020 Delhi riots: Court defers verdict in IB officer murder case to July 13

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) A Delhi court on Tuesday deferred to July 13 its verdict in the sensational case of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma's murder during the northeast Delhi riots in 2020, in which former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain is among the 11 accused. Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh said he was in the process of preparing the judgement. The case pertains to an FIR registered at Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Ravinder Kumar, father of Ankit Sharma. According to the complaint, Ankit, who was posted with the Intelligence Bureau, had returned home from office on February 25, 2020, before stepping out again. When he did not return for a long time, his family began searching for him, only to be informed by locals that their son had been killed and his body thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain near a mosque in the Chand Bagh Pulia area. Sharma's body was subsequently recovered from the drain. In his complaint, Ravinder Kumar alleged that his son was murdered by former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and others. It said they had allegedly assembled at Hussain's office, and Ankit's body was disposed of after the murder. On March 24, 2023, a Delhi court framed charges against Hussain and 10 others -- Haseen alias Mullaji alias Salman, Nazim, Kasim, Sameer Khan, Anas, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam alias Bobby, and Muntajim alias Musa. The accused were charged under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapons, promoting enmity between groups, murder and criminal conspiracy. Hussain was additionally charged with abetment and statements conducive to public mischief. The case stems from the communal violence that erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The clashes, marked by incidents of stone-pelting, arson and vandalism, had left 53 people dead and several others injured. PTI SKM RT RT RT