Hans News Service New Delhi

A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh pronounced the sentence to all five accused after hearing arguments on the quantum and said that the prosecution was not able to prove that the convicts are not beyond reformation. The judgement was pronounced in the physical presence of Hussain and others amid tight security. The courtroom was packed with lawyers and senior Delhi Police officials including Crime Branch's Joint Commissioner and DCP.

Earlier, Delhi Police had sought death penalty for all five accused, saying they fell to the "level of being animals" while relentlessly assaulting Sharma. Special public prosecutor Madhukar Pandey had submitted that Sharma was brutally killed and was not shown any mercy by the convicts, so they should not be given any leniency. Those who are asking for mercy today should have shown mercy themselves. No mercy was shown from anyone's side. No one even took Ankit to the hospital. They are asking for mercy after committing such a brutal murder, Pandey had said.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta welcomed the court's decision sentencing Hussain and five others to life imprisonment and accused the AAP leadership of backing Hussain despite his arrest.

"Today, the people of Delhi demand answers from the Aam Aadmi Party. Tahir Hussain was arrested on charges of murder, yet even after that, Mr Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia stood in his support! They kept trying relentlessly to save him! Why? Will Mr Kejriwal tell the people of Delhi? Was it under their patronage that people like Tahir Hussain conspired to incite riots?" she said in a post on X.

"After almost six years of fighting this case, our family finally feels that we have received a sense of justice, but we will fight for death penalty," Ankit's brother Ankur Sharma told PTI.