It’s been two years but the memory bank of the Delhi Riots that saw multiple waves of bloodshed and properties of Hindus being destroyed in the year 2020 does not fade away. The riots that began on February 23 in the year 2020 witnessed huge chaos in North East Delhi as the Muslim rioters targeted Hindus with sticks, stones, swords or pistols.
The two brutal incidents that created distress among the Hindu community all over India were murder tales of Dilbar Singh Negi and IB Officer Ankit Sharma. On Thursday, marking the second yearly observance of the grieving riots, team OpIndia visited the Shiv Vihar, Karwal Nagar area and the Chandbagh area in North East Delhi where the most destruction was inflicted.
Shiv Vihar is the locality in which 20-year old Dilbar Singh Negi was brutally murdered by a Muslim mob and the Chandbagh area is the one where houses and shops of nearby Hindus were targeted from the building of AAP Councilor Tahir Hussain. Ankit Sharma, who worked for the Intelligence Bureau, was brutally murdered in this area.
Dilbar Negi who belonged to Uttarakhand had shifted to Delhi six months before the riots broke out. He used to work at Anil Sweet House and was having lunch when the Muslim mob attacked him with the sword, cut him off and burnt him alive inside the sweets shop.
Son of Anil Pal, the owner of Anil Sweet House revealed to OpIndia that the family of Dilbar Negi had been offered help by the Uttarakhand State government. He also said that the Pal family had provided monetary help to Negi’s family. Refusing to give further details, he said that whatever happened was in the past and it was better to let it go off. “Let it go now, it has been two years since the riots and now there is peace here. It doesn’t look like something horrifying like that will ever happen again here”, he said.
Charge Sheet in Dibar Negi murder case of Delhi 2020 riots
Dilbar Negi was brutally murdered and his dead body was found in mutilated and charred condition in Anil Sweet House, Brijpuri on February 26. In the month of June 2020, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet in the case and charged 12 people for murdering Negi. The charge sheet confirmed that a Muslim mob community had come from the Brijpuri Pulia side of North East Delhi and started targeting the properties of Hindus till the late night of 24 February. Police had said that the mob had set fire to a sweet shop named Anil Sweets from where the police recovered Dilbar Negi’s body on February 26.
Where is IB Officer Ankit Sharma’s family?
While walking down the silent lanes of Chandbagh area in North East Delhi, team Opindia found that the house owned by the family of IB officer Ankit Sharma is close to AAP leader Tahir Hussain’s house. While locals informed that Sharma’s family had sold their property and left Delhi, the tenant residing in the house said that the family moved to Gaziabad after the riots. “Ankit Sharma’s family has moved somewhere near Ghaziabad. Now they come here sometimes only to collect the rent”, he said.
The dead body of IB constable Ankit Sharma was recovered from a ditch behind the house of AAP leader Tahir Hussain in Chandbagh. His body was then sent for autopsy by the authorities, the report of which revealed the horrific brutality that was inflicted on him before his body was dumped.
The autopsy report said that Ankit Sharma was stabbed over 400 times and his body had been mutilated beyond belief. He had stab wounds all over his body and not even a single portion of it was spared. He was stabbed for four to six hours, by possibly as many as six individuals together. Moreover, his intestines were ripped apart. Forensic doctors had reportedly said that they hadn’t seen such nightmarish mutilation in their lives.
The local people further refused to talk about the brutal murder but stated that they were unaware of the fact that Ankit Sharma was an IB officer until they heard of his death. Ankit Sharma had joined the IB in 2017 and his rank was that of a Security Assistant. It was reported that during the riots, Ankit Sharma was dragged into the house that belongs to Tahir Hussain by a Muslim mob along with two others. The family of Sharma had held the Aam Admi Party responsible for Ankit Sharma’s brutal murder.
An FIR had been registered against Tahir Hussain under section 302(a) of the IPC for the murder of Ankit Sharma, on a complaint filed by Ankit’s family. However, when Opindia on Thursday inquired about Pradeep Verma, the eyewitness of Ankit Sharma’s murder case, the locals informed us that he had left the area too.
