A Delhi court has sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four co-accused to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The Karkardooma Court delivers the punishment after nearly six years of proceedings, following examinations of witness testimony, forensic evidence and electronic records. In its July 13, 2026 conviction, the court found all five accused guilty on charges including murder, kidnapping, rioting and promoting communal enmity. Six of the 11 accused in the case are acquitted for lack of evidence. Sharma’s body was later recovered from a drain near his residence, an incident that drew national attention during the February 2020 communal violence.
The prosecution sought the death penalty, arguing the case was among the “rarest of rare,” but the court rejects capital punishment. Multiple reports say the court points to scope for reformation and concludes the case does not meet the threshold for the death sentence. Security is tightened around the Karkardooma Court complex ahead of sentencing given the case’s sensitivity.
