Tahir Hussain in 7 days’ custody
Police say Intelligence Bureau staffer was killed while rescuing some girls and women who were stuck in Chand Bagh during last week’s communal violence
NEWDELHI: A Delhi court on Friday sent suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain to seven-day police custody in connection with the alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the communal violence in north-east Delhi on February 25, even as officials probing the case said Hussain was present in Chand Bagh and Mustafabad when Sharma was killed.
Officials said Hussain was indeed in the area where Sharma was killed, which has been corroborated by call records, location of his cellphone and the statements of people who claimed they saw him in the neighbourhood. None, however, were eyewitness to Sharma’s murder.
nNEWDELHI: Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain, arrested on Thursday, was indeed in the Chand Bagh and Mustafabad neighbourhoods when Intelligence Bureau (IB) operative Ankit Sharma was killed in the communal violence that raged in north-east Delhi on February 25, officers probing the case said.
On Friday, a city court sent Hussain to seven days in police custody after the police produced him before a duty magistrate amid tight security. His custodial interrogation is required to unearth a larger conspiracy behind the violence, the police said. Neither journalists nor any lawyer other than those connected with the case were allowed inside the courtroom.
The investigation so far has revealed that Sharma was killed while rescuing some women who were stuck in Chand Bagh during the rioting, the officers cited above said on condition of anonymity.
Hussain, who surrendered in court on Thursday after being on the run since the violence, has denied involvement in the murder. He has claimed that he wasn’t in the area when the incident took place.
During his days on the run, Hussain was provided shelter by his associates living in Chand Bagh, Mustafabad and in the Zakir Nagar neighbourhood near Okhla, where he stayed for two days, the officers said. His contact in Zakir Nagar was not a local AAP leader, the officers said, adding that Hussain had so far named four or five people who gave him shelter and they would soon be asked to join the probe.
A total of 731 cases, including 48 under the Arms Act, had been registered until Friday in connection with the February 23-25 violence in north-east Delhi that has left at least 53 people dead and more than 400 injured. Two special investigation teams (SITS) probing the cases, along with the police, have so far have detained or arrested 1,983 people in connection with the cases.
Hussain’s presence in Chand Bagh and Mustafabad areas has been corroborated by call records,the location of his cellphone and the statements of people who claimed to have seen him in the neighbourhoods on the day Sharma was killed. They, however, said that none of these people was an eyewitness to Sharma’s murder or had seen Hussain at the Chand Bagh puliya (culvert), which investigators have learnt was the spot where Sharma was stabbed and killed.
“Hussain has not been cooperating much in the probe and remains reluctant in answering our questions. He confirmed his presence in Chand Bagh and Mustafabad on February 24 and 25 when we confronted him with the electronic evidence, but has been denying his role in the IB staffer’s murder,” said one of the officers mentioned above.
In an interview to India Today television channel before reaching a Delhi court to surrender on Thursday, Hussain said that he had remained in his neighbourhood for two-three days and was in Delhi itself while the police looked for him. Hussain said in the interview that he was “innocent” and was being framed as part of “a conspiracy”.
Hussain is also being interrogated to ascertain how and why he had mobilised people to gather at his Chand Bagh house and stocked sticks, catapults, stones and petrol bombs (Molotov cocktails) on the building’s terrace and in the basement, another officer said.
Two more cases – of attempt to murder and rioting – registered at Dayalpur and Khajoori Khas police stations make a mention of alleged shooting, throwing of petrol bombs and stones from Hussain’s house.
“We are probing every aspect in the cases involving Hussain. Since the probe is in progress, details regarding it cannot be shared at this moment,” said special commissioner of police (crime and intelligence) Praveer Ranjan.
An officer associated with the SITS said a local enquiry into Ankit Sharma’s death had revealed that he was in Chand Bagh when he learnt that some Hindu women were stranded in the violence-hit area on the evening of February 25 .
“Sharma responded to the alert and went to rescue them with some other men of his community. They managed to rescue the women and girls. Stone pelting began when they were returning and Sharma was hit and injured on the Chand Bagh culvert. It appears that the rioters caught him in an injured condition, stabbed him to death and took away his body,” said the officer, quoting locals.
Sharma’s body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26. The body had over 40 stab wounds, the autopsy report later revealed.
Meanwhile, SIT officials interrogating Mohammad Shahrukh, said they had recovered the countrymade pistol, which he allegedly aimed at a policeman and fired multiple rounds from in Jafrabad on February 24.
“The pistol was recovered from a home in Jafrabad,” said special CP Ranjan.
A video in which Shahrukh was seen aiming pistol at the policeman went viral on social media, because of which he panicked and went into hiding.