Mr. Hussain had applied for anticipatory bail at the Karkardooma court in east Delhi and a decision on his bail plea was to be announced by the magistrate today.

Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain was arrested by the Delhi police on Thursday in connection with the murder of Intelligence Bureau staff member Ankit Sharma in northeast Delhi during the recent riots.

He had applied for anticipatory bail at the Karkardooma court, and a decision on his plea was to be announced by the magistrate on Thursday. In between, he reached the Rouse Avenue court to surrender and moved an application claiming that he was facing threats. The court rejected the application, saying the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction, said a police officer.

Mr. Hussain was taken into custody from the Rouse Avenue court premises and was taken to the Sunlight police station for further investigation, the officer said.

The councillor had been absconding. His last location was traced at Jamia Nagar on March 1.

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The police said interrogation would focus on the events of February 23 to 25. In his statement to the media after Mr. Hussain was accused of inciting violence, he claimed his house was attacked by a group of miscreants. He was the one who informed the police about the violence in the area.

“We are waiting for the forensic report of the materials seized from Mr. Hussain’s building after the violence. The report on liquid-filled bottles and other materials is awaited,” said the officer.

The officer added that the police obtained several videos in which people were seen throwing stones from the terrace of Mr. Hussain’s house. They would gather details of these people.

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“When asked about Ankit Sharma, he claimed that he did not know Ankit was working for the IB and have no idea who killed him,” added the officer.

The mobile phone was Mr. Hussain will be sent for forensic examination to restore deleted chats and to find out detailed of WhatsApp groups he was added it or if he was admin.