Two years after Delhi Riots, man accused of killing Ankit Sharma arrested from Telangana

Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested a 34-year-old man who is accused of killing Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, officials said today.

The accused, Munjtajim alias Musa Qureshi, is a resident of Chand Bagh. He was arrested on Monday from Gayatri Nagar, Meerpet, Telangana, they said.

According to police, Ankit Sharma, an Intelligence Bureau officer, was also brutally killed by the mob at Chand Bagh Pulia, Khajoori Nala, Main Karawal Nagar during the riots on February 25.

His body was thrown by the accused in the nearby Chand Bagh drain which was recovered the next day, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) PS Kushwah said that during investigation, 10 accused had been arrested including the then sitting councilor Tahir Hussain of the Aam Adami Party. According to the post-mortem report, Sharma was stabbed 52 times by sharp-edged weapons.

From the investigation and the interrogation of co-accused, Qureshi was also found to be an active member of the mob. Since Qureshi had been evading his arrest and was absconding since February 2020, he was declared a proclaimed offender in the case by the Delhi court. A reward of ₹ 50,000 had also been declared by the Delhi Police on the information leading to his arrest.

"Based on source input, we found out that Qureshi was living in Telangana for the last six months. Therefore, a team of the Special Cell was sent to Telangana to locate and apprehend the accused. It also emerged that the accused used to visit a particular chemist shop located in Gayatri Nagar, Meerpet, Telangana. Therefore, on Monday, when Qureshi was spotted going into the chemist shop, he was apprehended," the senior police officer said.

Police said after doing tailoring work for some years, Qureshi went to jail in a kidnapping and rape case. In the jail, he met with a notorious criminal -- Mujeeb of Bareilly. After coming out of jail, the accused started working in Gazipur Murga Mandi with his maternal uncle. But in order to meet his expenses, he started committing crimes.

"On February 24, 2020, Salman and Sameer went to Qureshi's house in Chand Bagh. In the evening, they planned to participate in the northeast Delhi riots. The next day, all the three accused assembled near Firdaus Masjid, Mustafabad and being highly radicalized, they also involved themselves in the riots in the area of Chand Bagh," the DCP said.

After finding IB officer Ankit Sharma alone near Chand Bagh Pulia, Qureshi along with his friends and others brutally killed him. Both Salman and Sameer have been already arrested in the case, he said.

Image: ANI