NEW DELHI: Tahir Hussain, a former councillor of the Aam Aadmi Party, was elected from Ward 59 in Nehru Vihar, East Delhi, in the 2017 MCD elections. He was expelled from the AAP days after his name figured in connection with the riots, specifically in the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma in Chand Bagh area.
He was born in Uttar Pradesh in 1969. Before entering politics, he was involved in business and lived in the northeast Delhi area.
He joined AIMIM in December 2024. Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM supremo, had posted on Twitter, announcing him as a candidate from the Mustafabad Assembly constituency.
As an AIMIM candidate, he contested the February 2025 Assembly polls from Mustafabad—the worst-hit area during the riots. Pitted against BJP and AAP candidates, he secured 33,474 votes and finished third. BJP candidate Mohan Singh Bisht had won the polls.
Hussain had gained widespread attention for his role in the 2020 Northeast Delhi communal violence. The riots, which resulted in significant loss of life and property, led to accusations of Hussain being a central figure in instigating violence. Videos of a mob atop Hussain’s house during the riots went viral on social media.
The Delhi Police named Hussain in multiple criminal cases linked to the riots, and he was arrested in March 2020. It was alleged that his house and rooftop were used to stock stones, petrol bombs and other weapons hurled at people during clashes in the area.
Two charge sheets were filed against Hussain in June 2020, with one naming him as the main conspirator in the violence in Chand Bagh and Jaffrabad, and another accusing him of the murder of Ankit Sharma. The Enforcement Directorate on 17 October filed a chargesheet against Hussain, alleging money laundering of `1.1 crore to instigate the anti-CAA protests and 2020 riots.
