Delhi court convicted former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for the killing of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, on Monday, July 13, 2026. Tahir leaves from Sunlight Police Station, in New Delhi, in this file image dated, March 6, 2020.A blurred mobile video purportedly showing a semi-naked man being thrown into a drain at Chand Bagh in Northeast Delhi was the only visual evidence available to the police after the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots. A murder case was registered at the local police station on February 26, and a Crime Branch team was constituted to investigate the killing.According to police sources, most of the CCTV cameras installed around the crime scene had been damaged, allegedly by rioters. Many of the accused seen in the footage had their faces covered. Under these circumstances, investigators said they had to rely largely on eyewitness statements and testimonies.Officers said they collected several mobile phone videos purportedly showing mobs attacking people and instigating violence, but none of them captured the assault on Sharma. The only crucial video showed a group of rioters dumping Sharma’s body into a drain.“We had a recording made by a resident that showed a person being thrown into the drain. Even as the footage was blurred, it was later established that the victim was Ankit Sharma, as blood traces found on the boundary wall of the drain matched the forensic evidence,” a police officer who was part of the investigation told The Indian Express.Also rea d | 2020 Delhi riots: Ex-AAP leader Tahir Hussain convicted in IB staffer’s murder“But the real challenge was to identify all those who had assaulted Sharma and thrown his body into the drain. Residents of Chand Bagh, on both sides of the road, were terrified, and no one was initially willing to come forward,” the officer said.The investigating team, with the help of local intelligence, began analysing mobile phone dump data. They soon identified a group of people who had been standing on the opposite side of the road and had witnessed a mob dragging Ankit Sharma from near an iron gate at the entrance of a lane before brutally assaulting him.“We identified those witnesses and persuaded them to come forward by assuring them of their safety and security,” the officer said.Story continues below this adDuring the investigation, police also found that Tahir Hussain, the local councillor, was allegedly part of the mob. His house was located only a few steps from the drain where Sharma’s body was dumped. Investigators examined the movements of the accused and corroborated them with witness statements and other evidence to establish their presence at the scene.The officer said that a total of 11 people were arrested in the case. Tahir Hussain was the first to be arrested on March 5 from a relative’s residence. Subsequently, using mobile phone location data, forensic evidence and witness testimonies, Delhi Police filed the chargesheet on June 3, building what investigators described as a watertight case.Among the officers from the Crime Branch who investigated the case and saw it through to its conclusion were Inspectors Amleshwar, Amit Prakash and Priyanka, under the supervision of ACP Pankaj Arora, DCP Sanjeev Yadav and Joint Commissioner of Police Surendra Kumar.Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha, who was serving as Special Commissioner of Police during the 2020 Delhi riots and supervised the investigation, said: “During the Delhi riots, our primary responsibility was to maintain law and order while ensuring a fair, impartial and evidence-based investigation. Every effort was made to collect credible evidence and bring those responsible before the law. With the court delivering its judgment, I am satisfied that the hard work and professionalism of the investigating team have stood the test of judicial scrutiny. We remain committed to bringing all those responsible for crimes committed during the 2020 riots to justice through due process of law.”