The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Wednesday filed a chargesheet in the Karkardooma courts in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the north-east Delhi riots in February this year.
Ten persons, including suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, have been charged with kidnapping, murder and rioting in the Chand Bagh area on February 25. Statements of 81 witnesses were recorded during the investigation.
According to the police report, Ankit was killed when he was trying to pacify the crowd on both sides near Hussain’s house. “Several witnesses in the case stated that on February 25 at about 5 PM, Ankit Sharma had moved ahead from the crowd of Hindu people standing a few distance away from Tahir Hussain’s house to pacify the people of both sides, the rioters numbered in 20-25, equipped with stones, rod, lathi, danda, knife etc came from the side of Chand Bagh Pulia, caught hold of Ankit Sharma on the instigation of Tahir Hussain from the front of Tahir Hussain’s house and dragged him to Chand Bagh Pulia (sic),” states the chargesheet. Ankit’s post-mortem report, as per the chargesheet, has revealed 51 injuries caused by sharp-edged and blunt objects.
Based on the witnesses’ account, a rough site map of Ankit’s murder and dumping of his body was prepared by the police. He was allegedly attacked on the main Karawal Nagar road opposite a bakery shop at the corner near the Chand Bagh culvert. The building of Hussain, which is 50-60 metres away from the spot, was allegedly used by the rioters for throwing bricks, stones, petrol bombs and acid bombs. No CCTV footage of the violence was found as all cameras were either burnt or damaged during the riots.
In the chargesheet, the witnesses have categorically stated that Hussain was present at the spot where Ankit was murdered and he was leading the mob which later moved to his building. Some witnesses have also claimed that Hussain was present in the building when the mob was pelting stones and petrol bombs from his terrace.
Video footage recovered from a witness’s mobile phone shows a person wearing a red shirt, along with two others, throwing the body of Ankit into a drain near the Chand Bagh culvert. The faces of three men are not visible, says the chargesheet.
One of the accused, Haseen alias Mullaji, was arrested by the Special Cell on the basis of interception of his phone calls. In a call to his relative, Haseen allegedly spoke about murdering a person and dumping his body in a drain, says the chargesheet.
During the investigation, all biological exhibits, soil samples, weapons of offence, clothes of the accused, voice samples and mobile phones of witnesses and accused persons were sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Rohini. Their results are still awaited.