The most heart wrenching and horrifying of all the tragedies over three days of rioting in Delhi that essentially traces its origins in the anti-CAA agitation has to be the gruesome, absolutely brutal murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer, Ankit Sharma.
Murdered in a conscience-shaking manner, Ankit Sharma’s mortal remains were found in a drain in the violence-hit area of Chand Bagh in Delhi. His father said that Ankit Sharma had gone to assess the situation outside on Tuesday evening, but he did not return for hours. The family went searching for him, his mortal remains were however found only on Wednesday.
Relatives say that Ankit was undressed and his body had stab wounds, throat slashed and one bullet wound. His body was found dumped in a drain and pressed down with rocks. The IB man appears to have been tortured before being murdered.
Shocking facts have come out in the case. As per testimonies of a local and several reports, AAP leader and Corporator Mohammed Tahir Hussain has been accused of being involved in this brutal crime. It has been alleged that guns were being fired from the rooftop of his house and petrol bombs were also being thrown. Ankit Sharma was a resident of the area and his family has also accused Tahir Hussain.
They say, “Guns were shot continuously from the AAP leader’s home. They also had swords and petrol bombs. His boys dragged Ankit. Ankit was trying to rescue people trapped by a mob. They dragged Ankit and killed him.”
Locals from the area also saw that Ankit Sharma and three others were dragged into Tahir Hussain’s house. While the fate of two others is not yet confirmed, Ankit’s mortal remains were found- riddled with stabbing injuries and one bullet wound. However, Ankit Sharma’s brother claims that that bodies of two others have also been found, while one remains missing.
आज मैं IB कर्मचारी अंकित शर्मा के घर गया।अंकित के भाई ने उसकी हत्या के लिए AAP के नेता ताहिर हुस्सैन का नाम लिया है।अगर सच सुनने की हिम्मत है तो ये बयान सुन लीजिए और फिर फ़ैसला कीजिए।#DangeKaSachOnZee pic.twitter.com/xp6Jk629We
— Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) February 26, 2020
Here is a gentleman, an eyewitness I spoke to along with @rahulpandita who speaks about the role of #TahirHussain and the violence that was being perpetrated from that terrace. pic.twitter.com/m3JNHMy82O
— Anubha Bhonsle (@anubhabhonsle) February 26, 2020
#ताहिर_हुसैन #ArrestTahirHussain …….
You can see him in red sweater….. pic.twitter.com/zYwX2PFTJb— Anivesh Rai 🐿️ (@Anivesh18367) February 27, 2020
A video of Tahir Hussain’s house is going viral. Violent mobs can be seen virtually carpet-bombing the area with stones and petrol bombs from the rooftop of Hussain’s house. A local from the area has directly accused Tahir Hussain of bringing in weapons from Loni, a town in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
I spent the entire day in Northeast Delhi. Will file a dispatch later. But in the worst-affected Chand Bagh area, the Hindu residents of Moonga Nagar have levelled serious allegations against @AamAadmiParty Corporator Mohammed Tahir Hussain +
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) February 26, 2020
The gruesome murder is horrifying not only in terms of sheer brutality, but also because it opens up a number of unexplored dimensions.
While the mainstream media has given its verdict that the riots were an anti-Muslim pogrom at the instance of whom they describe as “RSS goons”.
More importantly, do bear in mind that Ankit Sharma was no ordinary youth, but an Intelligence Bureau official- a sleuth. His father has said that he had gone to Tahir Hussain’s house to take stock of the situation.
And he was selectively targeted by the Islamist mobs that were on a rampage at the time, dragged in and brutally murdered. Why was he selectively targeted? Did he gather intelligence that could have been damning for those rioters? It has been found that Tahir Hussain’s home’s terrace is laden with petrol bombs, stones and other weapons to run riot.
It is even more horrifying to imagine who his murderers could have been? The rioting was first given a ‘pro-CAA v anti-CAA’ twist followed by a ‘Hindu v Muslim’ narrative and finally labelled as an ‘anti-Muslim pogrom’.
What everyone has been ignoring for all this while is the role of militant Islamist outfits, including the Kerala based-outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). There were reports of SIMI and PFI markings all over the violent anti-CAA protests in Delhi in the month of December last year.
As soon as the reports of Ankit Sharma’s murder came out, his identity as an IB staffer also came out. Remember, no one is supposed to know of the identity of an IB staffer, but in this case, his identity was totally compromised.
Who compromised his identity? It cannot be the handiwork of local protesters and arsonists. More mischievous, nefarious elements- terror elements to be blunt and precise were likely involved.
Ankit Sharma’s gruesome murder raises a lot of serious questions. It also exposes the shoddy media coverage which doesn’t want to speak about what seems to be an AAP-PFI nexus behind Sharma’s murder. Thus, apart from raising serious question, this tragedy also exposes the Hindutva terrorism farce of the Barkhas and the Ranas.
