New Delhi, July 31, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four co-convicts to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Court awarded life imprisonment to Hussain, Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim after convicting them of offences including murder, kidnapping, rioting and promoting enmity between different groups.
While pronouncing the sentence, the court described the crime as “very serious”, observing that Sharma had been “brutally murdered” and his body was left “like an animal”. The judge noted that the incident had “shaken the conscience of society”.
The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty, contending that the murder was “cold-blooded” and “brutal”. The prosecution argued that the 51 injuries found on Sharma’s body reflected the extreme nature of the assault.
The defence opposed capital punishment, arguing that the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category required for the death sentence. It also submitted that the prosecution had failed to establish a criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and urged the court to consider the possibility of Hussain’s reformation.
On July 28, the court had reserved its verdict on the quantum of sentence after hearing arguments from both sides.
Earlier this month, the court convicted Hussain and the four others under IPC provisions relating to murder, kidnapping, disobedience of a public servant’s order, promoting enmity, rioting and unlawful assembly. However, all five were acquitted of the charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B IPC.
The court also acquitted six other accused, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The case pertains to the killing of Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, a day after communal violence erupted in North-East Delhi. According to the prosecution, Sharma was allegedly abducted by a mob near Chand Bagh Pulia, repeatedly assaulted and stabbed before his body was dumped into the drain.
An FIR was registered at Dayalpur Police Station on the complaint of Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who reported that his son had gone out to buy household items but did not return.
The communal violence in North-East Delhi in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, left hundreds injured and caused extensive damage to public and private property.
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