India, Aug. 14 -- New Delhi

The murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the northeast Delhi riots was intended as a chilling act of defiance against the security forces, the Delhi Police told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

Even as a bench of justice Neena Bansal Krishna reserved the verdict in former municipal councillor Tahir Hussain's petition seeking bail in Sharma's murder case, the police, represented by Special Public Prosecutor Rajat Nair and advocate Dhruv Pande, submitted that it had evidence to show how Hussain, along with other accused, caught and dragged Ankit Sharma before stabbing him 51 times and dumping his body in a nearby drain, while he was trying to de-escalate the situation.

Nair further ...