New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) A Delhi court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its verdict in the 2020 Delhi riots Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma murder case.

The Karkardooma Court, which was expected to deliver its verdict on June 4, had deferred the pronouncement to June 11 in the case involving former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Councillor Tahir Hussain and 10 other accused.

The case relates to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, amid widespread communal violence that rocked North-East Delhi.

The prosecution has alleged that Hussain and the co-accused were part of an unlawful assembly and conspiracy that led to Sharma’s murder during the riots.

In March 2023, the Karkardooma Court framed charges against 11 accused, including Hussain, holding that they were liable to be tried for offences under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 302 (murder), read with 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Hussain was also charged under Sections 505, 109 and 114 of the IPC.

The trial court had then observed that Hussain allegedly incited the mob to target Hindus and exhorted them to “not spare them”.

According to the prosecution, an FIR was registered on February 26, 2020, on a complaint lodged by Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar. He alleged that his son had gone out on February 25 to purchase household items but failed to return home.

Kumar later learnt from local residents that a youth had been thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain from the Chand Bagh area. Subsequently, Sharma’s body was recovered from the drain.

The complainant alleged that Hussain and his associates were responsible for the murder of his son.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Hussain’s plea seeking bail in the case. A single-judge Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna rejected the application after considering the allegations and material placed on record.

–IANS

sd/