Delhi riots case: Ex-AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain admits his role in instigating violence

According to an Interrogation Report (IR) by Delhi Police, suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, Tahir Hussain has confessed about his role in the North East Delhi violence that broke out in February this year. According to ANI, he has also admitted that he has incited people to unleash violence. Hussain said that he met former JNU student Umar Khalid at Popular Front of India (PFI) office in Shaheen Bagh on January 8.

'I met Khalid Saifi for planning the riots'

According to Delhi Police, Hussain's task was to collect as much glass bottle, petrol, acid, stones, as possible on the roof of my house. One of Hussain's acquaintance, Khalid Saifi was given the task to gather people on the streets for protest. "Khalid Saifi, along with his friend Ishrat Jahan, first started a dharna demonstration in Khureji on the lines of Shaheen Bagh," Hussain told the police during interrogation.

"On February 4, in Abu Fazal Enclave, I met Khalid Saifi for planning the riots. It was decided to provoke people sitting on the anti-CAA strike. Khalif Saifi said that something big has to be done at the time of Donald Trump's visit so that the government kneel," he said. Delhi Police probe reveals that Hussain has admitted that he collected a lot of acid, petrol, diesel, and stones on his roof. He had also taken his pistol from the police station for use in the violence.

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"On February 24, according to our plan, I have called several people and told me how to throw stones, petrol bombs, and acid bottles from my roof. I had shifted my family to another place. On 24 February 2020, at about 1:30 pm we started throwing stones," Hussain told police. According to a charge sheet by Delhi Police, Hussain is one of the prime accused in the killing of IB staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26, during the violence in North East Delhi.

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Ex-AAP councillor Tahir Hussain's case

Former AAP leader Tahir Hussain was initially been booked under Sections 201 (disappearance of evidence or giving false information), 302 (murder), and 365 (kidnapping) during the communal riots that broke out in Northeast Delhi. On April 22, the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 124 A(sedition) was slapped on him.

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After his arrest on March 5, the police sought his custody in multiple cases pertaining to the riots which claimed over 50 lives and left hundreds of people injured. Earlier on May 2, Delhi's Karkardooma court rejected his bail plea in the case related to his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of Ankit Sharma.

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(With agency inputs)