Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Manoj Tiwari on Friday said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party leader Tahir Hussain should be hanged within a stipulated time for the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma. Hussain has been suspended from the AAP’s primary membership after he was booked for Sharma’s death on Thursday evening.
Referring to Kejriwal’s remark that if anyone from his party is found guilty he should be given double the normal punishment, Tiwari said “double the punishment” means Hussain as well as his boss Kejriwal should be held guilty for Ankit Sharma’s murder. “Double punishment means now Tahir as well as his boss should be punished severely,” Tiwari tweeted. “The accused and plotters of this case should be hanged in a stipulated time frame. Stabbing an IB officer 400 times with a knife?? How religious intolerance has made you act so low.”
Sharma’s body was found in a drain in Chand Bagh locality, where violent clashes began on Sunday and worsened over the next few days. Sharma was returning home on Tuesday when he was allegedly stoned and beaten to death. After Sharma was found, his father Ravinder Sharma – an assistant sub-inspector with the Delhi Police – alleged that the AAP leader’s supporters had killed his son. Ravinder Sharma also claimed that his son was shot after he was killed. The body has been sent for an autopsy.
Unverified videos purportedly show Hussain on the roof of a building near Sharma’s residence during the violence. The building reportedly belongs to Hussain.
However, Hussain released a video on Thursday, saying he was innocent. He called the news about his involvement in the crime “false and politically motivated”. He said that a mob had broken the gate of his office, and climbed onto the building’s roof to carry out the attacks.
The AAP suspended Hussain from the party’s primary membership on Thursday evening after he was named in the first information report.
Tiwari is the second BJP leader to drag Kejriwal’s name into the controversy. On Thursday evening, BJP leader Kapil Mishra accused Kejriwal of being involved in the murder. He claimed that the mobile phone records of Hussain would prove the participation of Kejriwal and AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
“If Hussain’s phone call details, during the violence, are released, it would reveal Sanjay Singh and Kejriwal’s role in the violence and Ankit Sharma’s murder,” said Mishra, who himself has been accused of making an incendiary speech before the violence broke out.
So far, 39 people have died and more than 300 people injured in the violence.
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