A day after former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain was convicted in the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday launched a political attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), demanding that its top leadership explain its association with Hussain and its stand during the violence.
Addressing the issue, Gupta said the conviction marked an important step towards justice for the riot victims and their families, but maintained that “several unanswered questions” remained over the role played by the then AAP government during the violence.
Naming former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, Gupta said they owed an explanation to the people of Delhi over “why they shielded those responsible for the riots” and their political association with Hussain.
CM Gupta said: “There must be accountability to the people of Delhi, and those responsible for the riots should be punished in accordance with the law.”
Cabinet Minister Kapil Mishra alleged that Hussain was only “an actor” in a much larger conspiracy behind the 2020 riots. Describing the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma as a “rarest of rare” crime, Mishra referred to the post-mortem findings and said Sharma was brutally attacked before his body was dumped in a drain.
Mishra alleged that the conspiracy behind the riots extended beyond a single individual. “Hussain is only the actor. The directors and masterminds of the conspiracy are yet to be brought to justice,” he said.
Mishra accused the then AAP leadership of failing to act during the riots and questioned why Kejriwal, Sisodia and Sanjay Singh did not intervene to stop the violence. He also alleged that Sanjay Singh had publicly defended Hussain in the days immediately following the riots.
The minister further alleged that those involved in blocking roads, orchestrating violence and targeting Hindu-owned properties were part of a coordinated conspiracy. He also claimed that some activists, lawyers, journalists and NGOs had attempted to “change the narrative” surrounding the riots.
Kejriwal ‘biggest culprit’: Bhatia
The BJP on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that he had politically protected Hussain and describing him as the “biggest culprit” behind the episode. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia termed the trial court’s decision a “historic verdict” that had ensured justice for Ankit Sharma’s family and reaffirmed public faith in the judicial process.