NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday dismissed the bail plea of suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain in the murder case of IB official Ankit Sharma during the communal violence in Northeast Delhi.
The court also observed that Hussain allegedly used rioters as ‘human weapons’ who on his instigation could have killed anybody. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav said that a “powerful person” like Hussain can threaten witnesses in the case if enlarged on bail.
“At this stage, I find that there is enough material on record to presume that the applicant was very well present at the spot of crime and was exhorting the rioters of a particular community and as such, he did not use his hands and fists, but rioters as ‘human weapons’, who on his instigation could have killed anybody.
The judge clarified that anything stated in the order was based upon “prima analysis of material available on record at this stage which is yet to be tested on the touchstone of trial”.
“In this case, it is apparent that witnesses, whose statements have been recorded are residents of the same locality and they can easily be threatened by a powerful person like the applicant (Hussain),” the judge said in his order.
The Delhi Police had, in its charge sheet filed in the case, alleged there was a deep rooted conspiracy behind Sharma’s murder as he was specifically targeted by a mob led by Hussain.
The charge sheet said that autopsy had revealed that there were 51 sharp injuries on his body and the way Sharma was killed has shaken the social fabric of the society and instilled a fear in the minds of the residents of the area.