Delhi Violence: Suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain Sent To 3-Day Custody

A court sent suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain to three-day police custody on Friday in connection with the alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau official Ankit Sharma during the communal violence in northeast Delhi last month, sources said. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam remanded Hussain to police custody till Sunday after the expiry of his seven-day custody. Hussain was arrested on March 5 after a court in Delhi dismissed his plea seeking to surrender before it in connection with the case and was later sent to seven-day police custody the next day.

The suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor had moved the surrender application before the court, saying that he was willing to join the investigation and wanted to surrender in the case. Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast Delhi during the violence over the new citizenship law. The ruling AAP had then suspended him for alleged involvement in the violence, which has left at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

The family of Sharma (26), who was found dead in a drain near his home in riot-hit Chand Bagh area, has accused Hussain of being behind the killing. On the complaint of Sharma’s father, the police registered an FIR against Hussain, who has rejected the charge.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at local residents and police personnel.