2020 Delhi Riots: Ex-AAP Leader Tahir Hussain Sentenced to Life in IB Officer Ankit Sharma’s Murder Case

Public Lokpal
July 31, 2026

A Delhi court sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) municipal councillor Tahir Hussain and four co-convicts to life imprisonment for the 2020 murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the northeast Delhi riots.

Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh delivered the verdict, rejecting the Delhi Police's demand for the death penalty. While the court branded the killing as "nauseating and sickening," it chose life terms over capital punishment, citing the potential for the convicts' reformation.

Sharma went missing on February 25, 2020, amidst communal violence, and his body was later recovered from a drain bearing numerous stab and assault wounds. Investigators proved that a mob led by Hussain abducted and brutally targeted the young officer.

Hussain was promptly suspended by the AAP following the registration of the murder FIR. Co-convicts Javed, Anas, Nazim, and Kasim received identical life sentences.