In the past week, 49 people were killed in communal violence in North East Delhi.

One death received a larger slice of media focus: that of 26-year-old Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was retrieved from a drain near Delhi’s Chand Bagh on February 26. Channels like Republic TV, Times Now, Zee News, Aaj Tak, CNN News 18, News 18 India, News Nation and India TV all broadcast “exclusives” on it.

However, there were inconsistencies between media reports: the setting of the murder, the basics of what happened to Ankit, where he was nabbed, who he was with, the details of his post-mortem report. Most didn’t reconstruct the setting when his death took place.

Given that this is a developing story, it’s not unusual for these discrepancies to creep in. Here’s a rundown of some of them.

The details of Ankit leaving home

Ankit’s father told The Indian Express that his son left home to “ buy groceries ”. A News18 report quoted the father as saying that Sharma was "coming back from duty” and “15-20 people came from Tahir's building and took him along with a few others”.

Tahir refers to Tahir Hussain, an Aam Aadmi Party counsellor who’s been accused of “orchestrating” the communal violence. He’s now been booked on charges of arson and murder, but has denied any wrongdoing on his part.

A neighbour provided a similar version to Newslaundry . A report in The Print claimed, based on testimony from Ankit’s mother, that Ankit had gone outside to “look for his brother Ankur who he feared may have got stuck in the riot” — although Ankur told Hindustan Times that Ankit went outside to “see what was happening in the locality”.

Rightwing news organisation Swarajya claimed to have found a witness who was with Ankit during the violence. This witness alleged that Ankit disappeared while “walking past a Muslim area amid heavy stone-pelting”.

There was some sort of a consensus between the Press Trust of India , Hindustan Times, The Hindu and Scroll , which claimed that Ankit had left home to check what was happening outside his locality that evening.

A Times of India report on March 5, based on “multiple sources”, tells us that eyewitnesses have told police that Sharma “tripped over a stone and fell". He was then overpowered by three-four men “from the other side” and dragged away. The report claimed that Sharma’s murder was a “targeted killing”.

The report claimed: “He [Sharma], along with his friend, Kalu, and a few others were on one side of a 'pulia' (small bridge) while heavy stone-pelting was on from the other side. Sharma was at the front.”

Who was Ankit with?

Then there is the case of those who allegedly accompanied Ankit.

The Hindu and Scroll did not state if anyone was with Ankit.

The Print, which spoke to Ankit’s mother, did not report on others accompanying Ankit. The report quoted Ankit’s sister who said the family was “told that Tahir and his men dragged my brother and two others to his office and killed him”.