Tahir Hussain’s brother detained in connection with Delhi violence

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has detained Shah Alam, brother of the suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, news agency ANI reported. Hussain is an accused in the FIR lodged over the alleged killing of IB officer Sharma whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26.

Alam’s name had surfaced during the investigation into the case.

Hussain was arrested by the Delhi Police on Thursday last week for the alleged murder of Sharma during the recent violence in Northeast Delhi. He has been named as an accused by Sharma’s father Ravinder Kumar, who has filed the FIR.

On Friday, a city court sent Hussain to seven days in police custody after the police produced him before a magistrate.

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The investigation so far has revealed that Sharma was killed while rescuing some women who were stuck in Chand Bagh during the rioting, officers investigating the case said on condition of anonymity. They further said that Hussain was indeed in the Chand Bagh and Mustafabad neighbourhoods when Sharma was killed.

Hussain, who surrendered in court on Thursday after being on the run since the violence, has denied involvement in the murder. He has claimed that he wasn’t in the area when the incident took place.

During his days on the run, Hussain was provided shelter by his associates living in Chand Bagh, Mustafabad and in the Zakir Nagar neighbourhood near Okhla, where he stayed for two days, the officers said.

A total of 731 cases, including 48 under the Arms Act, had been registered until Friday in connection with the February 23-25 violence in north-east Delhi that has left at least 53 people dead and more than 400 injured. Two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the cases, along with the police, have so far have detained or arrested 1,983 people in connection with the cases.