Suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, who is accused of being involved in the murder of an Intelligence Bureau officer during the communal violence in North East Delhi, on Tuesday moved a Delhi court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, PTI reported. Hussain is said to be absconding after the officer Ankit Sharma’s murder.

District and Sessions Judge Sudhir Kumar Jain will hear Hussain’s plea on Wednesday. The Delhi Police have charged the councillor with murder, rioting and arson, during the violence between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Capital last week.

ANI on Tuesday had quoted an unidentified police officer as saying that reports about Hussain being rescued from his house on the intervening night of February 24 and 25 were incorrect. The Delhi Police, in a tweet late on Tuesday, confirmed that these reports were false.

“The facts are that on night intervening 24/25 Feb 2020 when some public men informed police deployed at Chand bagh that Tahir Hussain was trapped as crowd had surrounded his house,” a tweet from the deputy commissioner of police for North East Delhi said. “The police verified the same to be incorrect and Tahir Hussain was found available in his house.”

The police added that Hussain was booked after Sharma’s murder came to light on February 26, but he was absconding. “Efforts are being made to arrest him.” they said.

The first information report followed multiple videos that emerged online showing people on the roof of a building hurling stones and petrol bombs towards the street below. The building, barely a few metres from where Sharma’s body was recovered, belongs to Hussain, and residents said it functioned as his office. In one of those videos, the councillor can be purportedly seen carrying a stick at one point. However, Hussain released a video later claiming he was innocent.

At least 47 people were killed and over 200 injured in the riots in Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party, after first defending Hussain, had suspended him.

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