Associates of Tahir Hussain, Shahrukh under cops scanner

NEW DELHI: At least a dozen people associated with suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and Shahrukh, both arrested in connection with north-east Delhi’s communal riots, are under the police scanner to probe their role and assistance they provided to the two either in the violence or while they were evading law, officers privy to the matter said.

More than 700 cases have been registered and 2,387 persons were either detained or arrested so far in connection with the violence between February 23 and 27.

Hussain was arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26. Three men were apprehended on Saturday after details of their involvement in violence in Chand Bagh emerged during Hussain’s interrogation. They were identified as Liyakat, Riyasat, and Tarik Rizwi.

On Sunday, a Delhi court sent Liyakat to 14-day judicial custody while Riyasat was sent to police custody for three days. Rizwi was granted bail from the police station, as the charges against him were not serious.

“We are interrogating Hussain and Riyasat to identify and nab others who were involved in the violence. Eight to nine persons linked to Hussain are being searched,” a police officer privy to the probe said.

In the afternoon the two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the riots cases took Shahrukh to the place in Jafrabad where he had allegedly aimed a pistol at a policeman and fired shots on February 24. The investigators re-created the scene at the spot and asked Shahrukh to show them he used to reach there and then escape.

The police are interrogating Shahrukh to ascertain if he was leading a mob involved in the violence and had “mobilised outsiders”. He was arrested on Tuesday, eight days after a video showing him pointing a gun at a Delhi Police head constable, in a case of attempt to murder.