BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted the conspiracy out at around 3.45 pm on February 28.
Swamy was actually a bit late on the take.
A bunch of other handles on Facebook and Twitter, like the one below, had already begun to spread the conspiracy theory.
The Lede spoke to reliable sources in Delhi’s Intelligence circles to find out the truth behind this rather puzzling story.
And it turned out that slain IB personnel Ankit Sharma could most certainly not have been on a “mission” to “tail” or “keep a close watch” on Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain simply because he would not have been trained with those skills.
Ankit Sharma was an MT/SA in the Intelligence Bureau. MT means Motor Transport and SA stands for Security Assistant.
In effect, Sharma was a driver for the IB. At best, he would have been trained to drive aggressively or defensively but certainly was not a spook who would be tailing a councillor.
As for the Bangladeshi angle about Tahir Hussain, there is no proof to either confirm or deny that claim. It remains just that – a claim hanging in thin air.
The Lede has a copy of the FIR filed in Ankit Sharma’s murder. The FIR states that in Chandbagh there had been clashes, firing, vandalism and arson between supporters and opposers of the Citizenship Amendment Act for a few days before Ankit Sharma’s murder.
The FIR states that AAP councillor Hussain had goons on his office rooftop who were pelting stones, throwing petrol bombs and firing at the crowds below.
The FIR also states that Ankit Sharma, having returned home from work at 5 pm on 25 February, went out to buy provisions for the house. Since he did not return, his father Ravinder Sharma went out searching for him and the next morning found Ankit Sharma’s body in a drain in Chandbagh.
We are not reproducing a copy of the FIR since it has many details of people and their contact numbers.
However, IB sources told The Lede that Ankit Sharma had, in fact, participated in the protests and had pelted stones when he left his house. This information has been gleaned by authorities following enquiries in the neighbourhood.
“Four waves of clashes took place,” said the source. “In the fourth wave, Ankit was pulled in,” said the source.