Accused in IB officer’s murder case nabbed from Hyderabad

DCP Pramod Singh Kushwah said the arrested accused, identified as Mohammad Munjtajim alias Musa Qureshi, was apprehended from Hyderabad’s Meerpet area on Monday

The special cell of Delhi Police has arrested a 34-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer from Hyderabad in Telangana, officers aware of the matter said.

IB officer Ankit Sharma was murdered during the February 2020 communal riots in north-east Delhi. (File)

IB officer Ankit Sharma was found dead during the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi. The Delhi Police, in its charge sheet filed in connection with the case, has said that Sharma was stabbed over 50 times.

On Wednesday, Pramod Singh Kushwah, deputy commissioner of police (special cell, New Delhi range), said the arrested accused, identified as Mohammad Munjtajim alias Musa Qureshi, was apprehended from Hyderabad’s Meerpet area on Monday.

“On February 25, 2020, Ankit Sharma, a young IB officer, was brutally murdered by the riotous mob at Chand Bagh Pulia, Khajoori Nala, Main Karawal Nagar Road in Delhi. The body of the deceased was thrown by the accused in a nearby drain, which was recovered the next day. A case in this connection was lodged under various sections of the law was at Dayalpur police station on February 26, 2020,” he said.

Kushwah said during the investigation, 10 accused, including the then sitting councillor Tahir Hussain, were arrested. “As per the post-mortem report, the deceased was stabbed 52 times by sharp-edged weapons. From the investigation of this case and from the interrogation of co-accused persons, Muntajim was also found an active member that riotous mob. Since Muntajim had been evading his arrest after the incident, he was declared a proclaimed offender by court on January 5, 2021. A reward of ₹50,000 had also been declared on the information leading to his arrest by Delhi Police,” he said.

Kushwah said efforts were made to nab Muntajim. “From reliable sources, it was revealed that the accused has been living in Telangana for the last six months… A special cell team was sent to Telangana, to locate and apprehend him. Finally on Monday evening, Muntajim was spotted going into a chemist shop in Meerpet, where he was immediately arrested,” he said.

During interrogation, the DCP said that Muntajim disclosed that he came Delhi in 2018 and met Mohammad Salman alias Hasan and Mohammad Sameer. “On February 24, 2020, Salman and Sameer came to Muntajim’s house, where they planned to participate in the riots there. The next day, all three assembled near Firdaus Masjid in Mustafabad and killed Ankit Sharma... Salman and Sameer have already been arrested in this case,” Kushwah said.

The DCP further said that Muntajim was previously involved in several cases lodged at northeast Delhi’s Nand Nagri police station, and a court had already issued a non-bailable warrant against him.