New Delhi, 12 August (H.S.):

The Delhi Police will challenge before the Delhi High Court the trial court’s decision to acquit six accused in the 2020 murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the Delhi riots. The police informed a bench headed by Justice Pratibha Singh on Wednesday that it would file an appeal against the acquittals.

The High Court was hearing petitions filed by two convicts, Nazim and Qasim, challenging their convictions and sentences in the case. During the hearing, the court issued notice to the Delhi Police on their pleas and directed the concerned jail authorities to submit status reports on their request for suspension of sentence. The court will hear the applications seeking suspension of their sentences on December 2.

The trial court had convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four other accused in connection with Sharma’s murder. Besides Hussain, Nazim, Qasim, Anas and Javed were convicted in the case. The court, however, acquitted six other accused — Haseen alias Mullaji alias Salman, Sameer Khan, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam alias Bobby and Muntazim alias Musa.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had filed its chargesheet in the case on June 3, 2020. According to the chargesheet, on February 24 and 25, 2020, Hussain allegedly led a mob from his residence and a mosque near Chand Bagh Puliya and incited communal violence.

The chargesheet alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched to murder Sharma and that he was specifically targeted by the mob allegedly led by Hussain. The incident took place outside Hussain’s residence in the Khajuri Khas area. After allegedly killing Sharma, the mob threw his body into a drain, according to the prosecution case.

Sharma’s post-mortem examination reportedly found 51 injuries caused by sharp-edged weapons on his body. The chargesheet alleged that Hussain had incited the mob in the Chand Bagh area and described him as a key figure in the alleged conspiracy.

The case against Hussain was registered on the basis of a complaint by Sharma’s father. He was booked under Sections 302, 365, 201 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The police also claimed to have recovered a substantial quantity of material allegedly used during the violence from the terrace of Hussain’s residence.

The latest development means the Delhi High Court will now consider the police challenge to the acquittal of the six accused, while separately hearing the pleas filed by the convicted individuals against their sentences.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar