Tahir Hussain, a former councillor of the Aam Aadmi Party, contests his conviction for the murder of Ankit Sharma during the 2020 riots in Delhi, alleging bias and manipulation of witness statements.
On July 13, a sessions court in Delhi convicted Tahir Hussain for multiple charges including murder, rioting, disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant, promoting enmity between groups, and unlawful assembly. The charges were related to the death of Ankit Sharma during the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020 between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
However, Hussain was acquitted of a criminal conspiracy charge. On July 31, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in Sharma's murder. The body of Sharma was found in a drain.
In his appeal before the Delhi High Court, Hussain alleges that the investigation against him had been biased from the outset, designed to implicate him to satisfy public anger. He contends that witnesses have been planted and statements of genuine eyewitnesses have been manipulated.
The riots in northeast Delhi left 53 people dead and hundreds injured, with most of those killed being Muslims.
Source:
Scroll.in
