New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal on Tuesday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should apologise to the people of the national capital after a court convicted former AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain in the 2020 Delhi riots case involving the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma.

Reacting to the verdict, Khandelwal alleged that the violence had been pre-planned and accused the AAP of supporting those involved.

“This clearly shows that the riots were pre-planned and were supported by the Aam Aadmi Party. The party did not take any action against its MLA. Now that the truth has come to light, the Aam Aadmi Party should apologise to the people of Delhi. Those found guilty should receive the punishment prescribed under the law,” Khandelwal said.

BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also targeted the Congress and the AAP over their response to the case.

Referring to Congress leader Imran Masood’s remarks, Bhatia said, “Imran Masood also made a statement that Tahir Hussain is being targeted just because he is a Muslim. Was this statement made at the direction of Rahul Gandhi? Did Rahul Gandhi hold Imran Masood’s ear and tell him to apologise?..”

In another statement, Bhatia questioned both Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“The big question that both Arvind Kejriwal and Sonia Gandhi should answer is this: when the law does its work, the police does its work, and our IB officer does his work, why is it that Sonia Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal engage in dirty and low-level politics? They do politics on dead bodies like vultures and do not stand with the victim’s family. Instead, they stand with the accused, because they see the accused’s religion as their vote bank…” Bhatia said.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said the court’s decision should be respected while noting that the legal process was still open to the convicted persons.

“I believe the court’s verdict should be respected. However, they still have the opportunity to pursue legal remedies. The Constitution allows them to approach a higher court and fight their case. Until the judicial process is fully concluded and a final verdict is delivered, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter,” Verma said.

Earlier in the day, a Delhi court convicted former AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

The Karkardooma Court found Hussain, who was suspended by the AAP after his name surfaced in the case, guilty under charges including promoting enmity, rioting, assault, use of criminal force and murder.

Apart from Hussain, the court also convicted four other accused, Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim, in the case.

The court, however, acquitted six other accused persons, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

–IANS

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